Kaleidoscope

Edward Le Bas R.A. 1904--1966, was an English painter and art collector. Le Bas read Architecture at Cambridge and studied in Paris he then moved to London to study at the Royal College of Art. He was born into a wealthy family where his father was a steel magnate, therefore Edward could afford to travel widely to paint in Europe and North Africa. He exhibited at the Royal Academy, the New English Art Club and also with the London Group. His works are held at the Tate Gallery and various other institutions throughout the World. This painting is one of, if not , the largest of his works and undeniably the most mysterious. The painting is oil on canvas which in itself is not unusual for Le Bas but the subject is unfathomable, at the moment. It is inscribed ' Adelaide ' and ' In Questa Tomba Oscura ' which relates to a poet by the name of Giuseppe Carpani 1751-1825, he wrote a poem in 1807 which was published the following year, apparently he approached all the musicians at the time and it was Beethoven who was first to appreciate the verse, in addition Pavarotti many years later sang the verse. There is also the question of Adelaide which could either relate to Princess Victoria Louise Adelaide Matilda Charlotte of Prussia or the Duchess of Brunswick or Queen Adelaide wife of George IV. However the picture contains many indescribable elements, it is an allegory of constantly changing elements where Old Father Time dominates the main frame, the two women and the child appear to be standing back to back as to avoid confrontation although they are very similar in appearance, the child looks to see something on the horizon, maybe WW11. Carpani's poem describes a married man who had a lover and he died, he pleads to be left to lie in peace, perhaps this is relevant to the painting. Also there is another young boy with a broken string from a guitar, this represents discord, a snake in the grass veering onto the path, another mystery. Hans Holbein painted a picture of the Ambassadors, equally still enticing questions, in 1533 and this has been suggested as a reference point to the Le Bas picture and there maybe a connection between the messages that lie within the two paintings. The theme of the Le Bas picture seems to revolve around life and death and the struggles within. Holbein's painting has been with the National Gallery since 1890 and is still without answers. Edward Le Bas was a scholar and has left a mysterious puzzle behind which has turned out to be almost as difficult to understand as another Le Bas painting in my collection, a portrait, which mystified the art market for the last 6 years, I shall endeavour to exhibit the work here in the near future, fortunately that mystery has been solved.