`The Death of General Wolfe, Obiit Patriam Pugnando'

Book Description

[1776 or later]. Original ink wash, heightened with white, calligraphic title beneath `The Death of General Wolfe' with an original ink wash vignette of a grief-stricken putti leaning against a memorial urn on a pedestal, the pedestal with the lettering `AEt/ 35', to the left of the pedestal a drum, two standards and a cannon barrel, this vignette flanked by the words `Obiit Patriam pugnando.'. Inscribed on verso: `Indian Ink drawing by my grandfather George Kendall b. 21 Mar 1753/ Henry [?] Kendall 15 Feb 1895'. Laid paper, mounted on 19th-century board. Sheet size: 19 1/8 x 24 1/2 inches. Image size: 17 1/2 x 24 1/2 inches. A very fine, probably 18th-century, reworking of William Woolett's engraving of Benjamin West's famous work When West exhibited the original of this image, at the Royal Academy in 1771, it caused a sensation: for the first time a major work by a major artist depicted modern heroes playing out recent events in modern costume. Sir Joshua Reynolds, at first antagonistic to the project, when given a private preview of the work remarked `I forsee that this picture will not only become one of the most popular, but occasion a revolution in art'. The picture was in instant success and the engraving by William Woolett which followed `one of the most commercially successful prints ever published' (H. von Erffa & A. Staley The Paintings of Benjamin West1986, p.213). The present reworking of Woolett's engraving is of a very high quality, and to judge from its dimensions, is not worked over a traced base but a true redrawing. The published work is approximately 5% smaller than the drawing. If not a professional artist, then George Kendall was clearly a draughtsman of great ability, but unfortunately no information, other than that provided by his grandson, is available. "Wolfe went forward to some high ground on the right, where he had an advanced post of the Louisbourg grenadiers much exposed to the enemy's sharpshooters. He had already been hit twice, and here a third bullet struck him in the breast. With the help of two or three grenadiers he walked about a hundred yards to the rear, and then had to lie down. Don't grieve for me, he said to one of them; I shall be happy in a few minutes. Take care of yourself, as I see you are wounded. He asked eagerly how the battle went, and some officers who came up told him that the French had given way everywhere, and were being pursued to the walls of the town. According to one eye-witness, 'he raised himself up on this news and smiled in my face.' ' Now', said he, 'I die contented', and from that instant the smile never left his face till he died (13 Sept. 1759; English Hist. Review, xii. 763)... Wolfe was tall and slight, of Celtic type, and wore his red hair undisguised. He was a good son, a staunch friend, a kindly though strict commanding officer. He owned that he was 'a whimsical sort of person,' of a warm and uncertain temper, and that in writing he sometimes let fall expressions that were 'arrogant and vain.' But he claimed that this warmth of temper enabled him to hold his own, and 'will find the way to a glorious, or at least a firm and manly end when I am of no further use to my friends or country, or when I can be serviceable by offering my life for either' (29 June 1753). As a soldier he was a rare mixture of dash and painstaking, of Condé, and 'the old Dessauer'" (DNB). Cf. H. von Erffa & A. Staley The Paintings of Benjamin West 1986, p. 21; cf. Spendlove p.81;

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