156
113 Sir John Lavery RHA RA RSA (1856-1941)
Dover Harbour, 1917 (The Fleet at Anchor)
Oil on canvas, 51 x 76cm (20 x 30”)
Signed. Signed again, inscribed with title and dated 1917 verso (label for Hon. S.
Holt verso)
Provenance: Purchased privately through the Frederick Gallery, February 1998, by
John P. Reihill, Deepwell, Blackrock, Co. Dublin
Early in 1917 Lavery commenced a series of works of The Harbour at St-Jean-
de-Luz showing Norwegian Cargo ships finding safe haven in the Bay. This
scene,although similar , is not as tranquil as it appears there are some German
bombers in the sky. In May 1917 Gotha IV twin engine bi-planes replaced the
earlier Zeppelin German bombers.
These caught several English coastal towns such as Folkestone, bombed on Whit-
sun 25th May 1917 , unprepared for daylight raids .This picture is thought to have
been painted later in 1917 when Dover was bombed several times from the begin-
ning of September of that year. Lavery was to return to paint in Dover in May the
following year showing the towns coastal defences including the anti-submarine
netting. Several of these works are now in The Imperial War Museum in London.
€15,000 - 20,000
