The study relates to a lost watercolour which was exhibited at the Old Watercolour Society in 1829 where it was well received by critics.
The ‘Study for ElijahÂ’ is an unusual side to the artist's work and it may well have been inspired by his brother-in-law, William Hilton who became Keeper of the Royal Academy in 1827 and was also an artist in the ‘grand mannerÂ’. DeWint became an adopted son of Lincolnshire through his marriage to Harriet Hilton the sister of William Hilton. This work was acquired with the support of the Art Fund with the assistance of the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.
Provenance
Miss H.H. Tatlock & Miss Bostock; Sir Geoffrey Harmsworth, circa 1917; Spink, London, 1980; private collection; Sotheby's, 1994; private collection.