Egron Lundgren - A Scene from Shakespeare’s Richard III

Egron Sellif Lundgren (Stockholm 1815–1875 Stockholm)

The assassination of George, Duke of Clarence in the Tower of London; A Scene from Shakespeare’s Richard III (Act I, scene 4)

Authenticated by Karl Asplund (1890–1978) 15 March 1966 on the reverse.¹

Oil on canvas
unframed 25.2 x 36.7 cm (9 ⅞ x 14 ½ in.)
framed 39 x 51 cm (15 ⅜ x 20 ⅛ in.)
Original gilt frame

Painted in London in 1854

Provenance:
In the artist’s possession until his death;
his sale, Stockholm, Bukowskis, Egron Lundgrens efterlämnade samlingar och arbeten, under Oljemålningar [Oil paintings], lot 343 “Richard III, Shakespearescen, Komposition. H. 24, B 36” (105 kronor to Chamberlain (Kammarherre) Robert Montgomery Cederhielm)²

Literature:
Karl Asplund, Egron Lundgren, 1914, Vol. I, 1815–1853, p. 179; Vol. II, 1859–1875, p. 166

George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence (1449–1478), was the brother of English kings Edward IV and Richard III. He played an important role in the dynastic struggle between rival factions of the Plantagenets now known as the Wars of the Roses. He was imprisoned in the Tower of London accused of treason and executed.

In February 1854 and in March 1857, Shakespeare’s play Richard III was performed in London starring Charles Kean as Richard III. The script was based on Colley Cibber’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s play from 1699, The Tragical History of King Richard III, Alter’d from Shakespeare.

In Shakespeare’s play, without historical proofs, Richard, the Earl of Gloucester, later King Richard III, ordered his brother’s imprisonment in the Tower of London and had him assassinated. Contrary to Shakespeare’s original play, in which there are two assassins, Cibber has limited it to one assassin.

Soon after his arrival in London from Spain in the autumn 1853, Lundgren was introduced to Queen Victoria from whom he received commissions to depict life at the court. Soon she also commissioned him to illustrate her favorite plays by Shakespeare that regularly were performed in the London theatres. Queen Victoria was a great admirer of Shakespeare, making notes about his works in her journal, enjoying live performances and commissioning painting scenes inspired by his plays. In 1864, William Perry, woodcarver to Queen Victoria, carved a bust of William Shakespeare, from a portion of Herne’s Oak, a tree that has been immortalised by Shakespeare’s comedy, The Merry Wives of Windsor. A special casket was also made to hold Shakespeare’s famous First Folio inside.

In his two-volume book on Lundgren, Karl Asplund devotes considerable length to Lundgren’s illustrations after Shakespeare and his role as court painter to Queen Victoria.

¹ Karl Asplund worked at Bukowskis Konsthandel from 1916 and was its director between 1929 and 1953
² Robert Montgomery Cederhielm (1851–1932) had inherited a number of manor houses and castles. His principal seat was Segersjö Manor, Lännäs, in the County of Västmanland

Image: Segersjö Manor