Vincent Haddelsey comes from a family of painters, at least both of his grandmothers were gifted painters , and when he was eight his maternal grandmother gave him his own paint box, brushes and palette. He was born into a privileged upbringing attending Ampleforth School and hunting and beagling in the holidays. His father and his father and grandfather were all lawyers and Vincent was expected to follow suit. In fact, his parents did not encourage him to paint but actively discouraged him, since painting was not an activity they thought likely to provide a secure future. So Vincent learnt to draw by himself without any formal lessons recording the countryside in the area surrounding his home.
One skill he did learn from his upbringing was his horsemanship, which was to further develop over his lifetime and become the main feature of his art. At the age of 18 years he emigrated to Canada and became fascinated by the native Indians and their collective folk art. He developed this interest with trips to Mexico and the Indians living there before moving to Paris where he made his name as an artist and in 1969 won the International Grand Prix for naif painters.
Vincent Haddelsey has a nieve style and a simplicity of approach which are bound together with a warmth of colour that creates a complexity for the viewer. The background details are just as important to him as the main subject and this is the case in the work that we currently have for sale here at Blondes fine Art. " The Polo Match at Belvoir Castle " has Rooks alighting from the trees and a pair of hawks in the sky, it also has a group of onlookers to the right and a goal official by the posts, not to forget the distant Castle nestled in the trees. Another feature of his work is the attention to the detail of the patterns of leaves and grass which also evident in this painting but, the main subject of his painting is, of course , the horse and the horsemen. Whatever the scene these are usually central to the work and this is the case in this picture shown below.
Vincent Haddelsey Oil Painting " Polo Match"
Haddelsey played a lot of polo when he was in Canada , though never in England where he set this scene. He always played with number 2 on his back and that is a feature of all of his polo paintings and here number 2 is placed left of the painting.There is wonderful form and life like realism in the equine movement that shows his intimate knowledge of the horse. This expertise in painting all forms of horsemanship comes from having that experience himself. He not only rode in polo matches but show jumping, broncos, quarter horses, steeplechasing, and fox hunting, so he was a highly competent horseman.
The painting on offer is in excellent condition signed with initials and again verso, it came from the studio sale of his work so has fantastic provenance and is great value. Please contact us for more information to arrange a viewing or to make an offer.