Charles Neal Signed B.1951Oil Landscape By Banks Of The Wye, Coppett Hill

**Charles Neal (b. 1951)**
**Field Scene by Banks of the Wye, Coppett Hill, Herefordshire, 1989**

*Signed British Impressionist Oil Painting with John Campbell Master Framers Documentary History*

**Highlights**

• Original British oil painting by Charles Neal
• Signed “C. Neal” lower right
• Dated 1989
• Original handwritten subject label verso
• Depicts Coppett Hill beside the River Wye in Herefordshire
• Original canvas dimensions recorded as 24 × 20 inches
• John Campbell Master Framers label dated 17 June 1989
• Produced during Neal’s established association with John Campbell Gallery, London
• Three figures set within a sunlit summer meadow
• Expressive broken colour and textured brushwork
• Private UK collection provenance
• Decorative moulded frame
• Certificate of Sale & Dealer Attribution supplied

**Introduction**

A luminous signed landscape by British Impressionist painter Charles Neal (b. 1951), depicting a summer field by the Banks of the Wye at Coppett Hill, Herefordshire.

Painted in 1989, the work is particularly interesting for the documentary evidence preserved on its reverse. An original handwritten label identifies the location and records the canvas dimensions as 24 × 20 inches. A separate John Campbell Master Framers label records the application of temporary retouching varnish on 17 June 1989.

The Campbell documentation is especially relevant because Neal was exhibiting regularly with John Campbell Gallery in London during this period. Findlay Galleries records *Fields of Vision* at John Campbell Gallery in 1989, the same year as the dated label on this painting. No documentary evidence has presently been identified confirming that this particular work was exhibited in *Fields of Vision*, and no such claim is made.

**Catalogue Details**

Artist: Charles Neal
Artist dates: Born 1951
Nationality: British
Date: 1989
Title: *Field Scene by Banks of the Wye, Coppett Hill, Herefordshire*
Medium: Oil on canvas
Signature: Signed “C. Neal” lower right
Subject: Herefordshire landscape
Orientation: Portrait
Canvas dimensions: 24 × 20 inches / approximately 61 × 50.8 cm
Framed dimensions: 63.5 cm wide × 74 cm high × 3.5 cm deep
Verso: Original handwritten subject label and John Campbell Master Framers varnishing label
Frame: Decorative moulded frame

**Catalogue Note**

Neal has organised the composition around the contrast between a densely shaded stand of mature trees and the brilliant open meadow extending across the foreground.

The field is built through numerous independent touches of green, yellow, ochre, violet, cream and white. Tall grasses rise through these passages, creating an animated surface in which individual marks merge into the impression of abundant summer vegetation.

Three small figures occupy the middle distance. Their pale clothing catches the sunlight and provides a human scale without disturbing the essentially pastoral character of the scene.

At the left, the substantial tree group is constructed from overlapping strokes of green, brown and blue-grey. Neal avoids laborious botanical description, instead using changes of tone and direction to suggest branches, foliage, shade and movement.

The landscape opens beyond the meadow towards hedgerows and distant fields beneath a broad blue sky. This progression from intensely worked foreground vegetation towards the comparative openness of the distance gives the painting considerable spatial depth.

Close examination demonstrates the physical nature of Neal’s technique. Some areas are comparatively thinly painted, allowing the texture of the canvas to remain visible, while flowers and illuminated vegetation are articulated with thicker deposits of pigment.

The result is a landscape that operates differently according to viewing distance: individual strokes and areas of impasto remain apparent at close range but resolve into vegetation, atmosphere and sunlight when the painting is viewed as a whole.

**Coppett Hill and the Wye Valley**

The identification of the location is supported directly by the handwritten label retained on the reverse.

Coppett Hill lies above Goodrich in Herefordshire within the landscape of the Lower Wye Valley. Its mixture of open grassland, woodland and surrounding countryside makes the location particularly appropriate to Neal’s longstanding interest in the relationship between landscape, season and natural illumination.

The painting should therefore be understood as a representation of a specifically recorded place rather than as a generic pastoral composition.

**Original Verso Inscription**

An apparently contemporary handwritten label attached to the reverse records approximately:

“Field Scene.
by Banks of the Wye.
Coppett Hill Herefordshire.
24 × 20”

The inscription provides valuable physical evidence for the painting’s title, location and original canvas dimensions.

The established spelling **Coppett Hill** is therefore used in the present catalogue.

**John Campbell Master Framers — 17 June 1989**

A separate professional label retained verso bears the circular stamp:

**JOHN CAMPBELL
MASTER FRAMERS**

The label records the application of temporary retouching varnish on:

**17 June 1989**

Printed instructions advise that final varnishing should follow approximately six to twelve months after the temporary application. The area provided to record final varnishing appears not to have been completed.

The label therefore establishes that the painting had reached the professional preparation and presentation stage by June 1989.

**The John Campbell Gallery Connection**

The Campbell documentation has particular significance because Charles Neal maintained a sustained professional relationship with John Campbell Gallery during this period.

Findlay Galleries records Neal exhibiting *Summer Re-Visited* at John Campbell Gallery in 1986, followed by *Heart of England* in 1987, *Nature in Colour* in 1988 and *Fields of Vision* in 1989. Further Campbell exhibitions followed during the 1990s.

The dated John Campbell Master Framers label on the present painting consequently belongs to the same year as Neal’s documented *Fields of Vision* exhibition.

This provides an interesting connection between the physical history of the painting and Neal’s contemporary gallery activity. It does not, however, establish that the painting itself was included in that exhibition.

**The Artist**

Charles Neal was born in Surrey in 1951. He began formal artistic study at the age of fourteen under Malcolm Domingo and Frances Lane-Mason, studying with them for approximately a decade before developing an independent practice.

Neal subsequently settled in the Cotswolds, whose countryside became an enduring source of subjects. His paintings combine direct observation with an Impressionist concern for changing light, colour, atmosphere and season.

His professional exhibition record was established by the early 1980s. Findlay Galleries records his participation in the Royal Society of British Artists Annual Exhibition in 1982 and again in 1983, followed by exhibitions in London and Gloucestershire and his sustained association with John Campbell Gallery from the mid-1980s onwards.

In 1994 Neal presented the first of his important *Painted Garden* exhibitions at the Museum of Garden History in Lambeth. The collection celebrated Rosemary Verey’s garden at Barnsley House in Gloucestershire and was opened by the then Prince of Wales.

The *Painted Garden* concept subsequently became an enduring element of Neal’s career, encompassing important gardens in Britain, France, Italy and the United States.

Later projects have explored historic estates including Blenheim Palace, Belvoir Castle and Highgrove. Findlay Galleries has represented Neal exclusively since 2002.

**Comparative Work**

A particularly relevant comparison is Charles Neal’s *Near Poulton – Gloucestershire*, dated 1990 and recorded by Leighton Fine Art.

That work is an oil on canvas measuring 28 × 24 inches, signed lower right and importantly described as being titled on an original label verso. Its provenance is recorded as a private United Kingdom collection.

Dating only approximately one year after the present painting, *Near Poulton – Gloucestershire* provides useful comparative evidence for Neal’s practice during this period of painting specifically identified western English landscapes and retaining their titles or locations on verso labels.

**Provenance & Recorded History**

Direct from the artist, according to previous provenance information.

Private Southern England collection.

Cheshire Antiques Consultant LTD®.

**Documentary & Framing History**

John Campbell Master Framers.

Temporary retouching varnish recorded 17 June 1989.

The Campbell label documents professional handling and varnishing and is therefore recorded separately from the ownership provenance.

**Exhibition History**

No confirmed exhibition history for this individual painting has presently been established.

Charles Neal exhibited *Fields of Vision* at John Campbell Gallery, London, in 1989. The present painting retains a John Campbell Master Framers label dated 17 June of that year.

No exhibition label, catalogue entry or checklist has presently been identified confirming that this painting formed part of *Fields of Vision*.

**Dimensions**

Canvas: 24 × 20 inches / approximately 61 × 50.8 cm.

Framed: 63.5 cm wide × 74 cm high × 3.5 cm deep.

**Condition Report**

The painting presents in very good overall condition for its age.

The painted surface retains strong colour together with extensive original texture and areas of raised impasto.

Close examination reveals passages where the texture and weave of the canvas remain visible between individual strokes. These characteristics appear principally related to Neal’s method of paint application rather than deterioration.

Minor age-related surface characteristics and localised imperfections are present consistent with a work dating from 1989.

No major structural damage is apparent from the available visual examination.

The decorative frame presents well overall with minor marks and imperfections consistent with age, handling and display.

The original handwritten subject label and dated John Campbell Master Framers label survive verso and form important elements of the painting’s documentary history.

Please refer closely to the accompanying photographs, which form an integral part of the condition description.

**Shipping**

Worldwide shipping is available.

The painting will be professionally packaged and fully insured for transit.

**Certificate of Sale & Dealer Attribution**

The artwork will be supplied with a Certificate of Sale & Dealer Attribution issued by Cheshire Antiques Consultant LTD®, recording the artwork’s catalogue details, attribution, provenance as stated, and details of the sale. This document accompanies the work as part of its ongoing ownership and provenance record.

**Attribution and Research**

The historical observations, provenance research, attribution analysis and contextual commentary presented within this catalogue entry represent the professional opinion of Cheshire Antiques Consultant LTD®. They are offered in good faith as informed scholarly assessments based upon the available evidence, comparative research, published reference material and our experience within the international fine art market.

These observations should be understood as professional opinions rather than definitive statements of fact or guarantees of authorship, attribution, date, origin, provenance or historical interpretation. As with all historic works of art, future documentary discoveries, technical examination, conservation analysis or advances in academic research may refine, expand or revise current interpretations.

The identification of the subject as a field scene by the Banks of the Wye at Coppett Hill, Herefordshire, is supported by the surviving handwritten label verso. The dating to 1989 is supported by the John Campbell Master Framers varnishing label dated 17 June 1989. Although Charles Neal is documented as exhibiting *Fields of Vision* at John Campbell Gallery during 1989, no evidence has presently been identified confirming that this individual painting was included in that exhibition.

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