Sir William Russell Flint, PRWS. 1880-1969

Sir William Russell Flint RA PRWS 1880-1969.  

“The Gate Yields, Hildebrand and Soldiers Rush In”

Watercolour on paper. 11 x 15 inches. 24 x 29 cm approx

Excellent condition.

Provenance. Estate of a Mayfair collector

Exhibited:  Scottish National Gallery, label verso.

One of the eleven paintings commissioned by publishers G Bell and Sons to illustrate the 1912 book version of W.S. Gilbert’s 1884 operatic play  that ran for 246 performances; “Princess Ida,or Castle Adamant”. Signed and dated 1908. Exhibited: Scottish National Gallery. In excellent condition.

The comic opera  concerns a princess who founds a women's university, teaches that women are superior to men and should rule in their stead. The prince to whom she had been married in infancy sneaks into the university, together with two friends, with the aim of collecting his bride. They disguise themselves as women students, but are discovered, and all soon face a literal war between the sexes.