Philip Wilson Steer OM, 
British 1860-1942 - 

The Rape of the Sabines, 1896; 

oil on canvas, signed lower left 'P.W. Steer', 71 x 91.5 cm (VAT charged on the hammer) 

Provenance: 
Goupil Gallery, London; 
Sir Cyril Butler, K.B.E., purchased from the above in 1924; 
Lady Kendall Butler; 
Lord Molson; 
Christie's, Modern & Traditional Pictures, 7th November 1991, lot 14, The Property of the Hon. Christopher Lennox-Boyd; 
Lord Nicholas Gordon-Lennox; 
Richard Salmon Ltd., London; 
private collection

Exhibited:
Goupil Gallery, London, 'Philip Wilson Steer', March-April 1924; 
Tate Gallery, London, 'Works by Philip Wilson Steer', 19th April–21st July 1929; 
Tentoonstellony, Amsterdam, 'British Art', 1936, no.166 (according to the partial label attached to the reverse); 
Barbizon House, London, 'Philip Wilson Steer', 1937; 
National Gallery, London, 'Philip Wilson Steer Memorial Exhibition', 17th May–7th August 1943, no.86; 
Victoria and Albert Museum, London, C.E.M.A. Exhibition; 
Leicester Galleries, London; 
Temple Newsum, Leeds, 'Philip Wilson Steer', 29th March-14th May 1944; 
Arts Council of Great Britain, London, 'Philip Wilson Steer, 1960', no.31 (according to the label attached to the reverse) 

Literature: 
Burlington Magazine, London, 1943; 
D.S. MacColl, 'Life, Work and Setting of Philip Wilson Steer', London, 1945, pp. 107, 197 

Note:
in this period of the artist's career, he experimented with the Old Master painting method of a monochrome base with the subject matter and glazing colour over top. This ambitious and complex composition is a rare example of this technique. 

This legendary Roman story has been depicted by artists for centuries, particularly in the Renaissance and throughout, including Nicolas Poussin, Peter Paul Rubens, Jacques-Louis David, Edgar Degas and Pablo Picasso.