A watercolour by Solomon Alexander Hart (1806-81), the first Jewish member of the Royal Academy, drew dramatic competition at Tennants’ latest sale in North Yorkshire, writes Alex Capon.
Consigned by a private client in north-east England, the signed 15½ x 10¾in (40 x 28cm) picture of four figures engaged in Talmudic discussion was estimated at £200-300 at the April 27 sale. However, identified as one of the earliest-known original depictions of the interior of a synagogue in Britain, it drew determined bidding before it was knocked down at £5000 to London’s Ben Uri Gallery and Museum.
The gallery’s chairman David Glasser – who said he was prepared to bid many times more to secure the work – regards Hart as the pre-eminent Jewish artist of his day and believes the picture relates to a larger work from 1838.