The quotations at the head of each section are taken from Graves' list of Royal Academy exhibitors, and represent the inspiration for the painting, as submitted to the Academy's catalogue by Eyre Crowe.

Title: After a Run (1873)

Medium: oil

Exhibited: Royal Academy, 1873; International Exhibition, Philadelphia, 1876

Athenaeum, 10 May 1873:

...shows a hunting party halted at the door of a country inn: some, the ladies especially, are gossipping; one or two take refreshments. All the figures are expressive, the actions are varied and truthful, proving the forethought of the designer and his wealth of invention. The horses, not less than the riders, are admirably drawn, and justify the labour expended on the subject, which is, however, not worthy of the ability of the artist. This picture, as a whole, is very bright and faithful.

The Times, 26 June 1873:

Mr. Eyre Crowe, who usually sends us some embodiment of literary anecdote, has this year confined himself to bits of contemporary life of the more prosaic kind. If even such subjects as ... the halt of a hunting part (45) for sherry and ale in front of a hospitable country house ... can be made interesting by sincerity and conscientiousness of treatment, what fruit might not be expected from a deeper and tenderer or even more daring grasp of contemporary life?

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After a Run was exhibited at the International Exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876. It was auctioned in London on 27 March 1909, making £16 6s 0d.

Title: After Work (1873)

Medium: oil

Size: 10 x 16 inches

Exhibited: Royal Academy, 1873

Athenaeum, 10 May 1873:

After Work (166) is preferable to the last [After a Run]. Labourers are seated outside a public-house, gossipping. The whole is rich in character, and marked with much quiet humour. Observe the old man in the straw hat, likewise the other, who drinks deliberately from a mug. The same technical merits which we have noted above [After the Run] are to be found in abundence here.

The Times, 26 June 1873:

Mr. Eyre Crowe, who usually sends us some embodiment of literary anecdote, has this year confined himself to bits of contemporary life of the more prosaic kind. If even such subjects as a group of labourers at an ale-house door (166) ... can be made interesting by sincerity and conscientiousness of treatment, what fruit might not be expected from a deeper and tenderer or even more daring grasp of contemporary life?

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After Work, a small picture measuring 10 inches x 16 inches, was auctioned by Christie's in March 1983. It is reproduced in the exhibition catalogue. As 'After work outside the inn', it was sold by Sotheby's on 1 October 1986, fetching £1,800.

Title: Brothers of the Brush (1873)

Medium: oil

Exhibited: Royal Academy, 1873

Athenaeum, 10 May 1873:

Mr. Eyre Crowe's contributions are of diverse kinds, but uniform technical excellence. The most interesting among them is a capital piece of London life and labour, styled Brothers of the Brush (234). It shows the front of a tall, narrow house with a long ladder reared against it, on this some painters are at work. Four men stand on the ladder, each one is busy with his part of the façade, and they are placed one above the other. Their actions are admirable for spirit and variety. Notice how one of them delivers a long backward stroke of his brush against the wall; how another turns on the ladder, clinging with one hand to it in order to get at his task. On the parapet a fifth man appears; at the foot of the ladder is a sixth. The details of the design have been carefully considered, the drawing of the figures and accessories is sound and complete, and the modelling of all the parts leaves nothing to be desired. In a picture so excellent we could wish for more brightness and richness, not to say warmth of colour, and, without any sacrifice of that solidity which is so valuable, greater softness.

Illustrated London News, 17 May 1873:

Mr. Eyre Crowe has imparted a remarkable air of truth and completeness to his capital little picture of 'Brothers of the Brush' (234) - a number of house-painters at work on a three-storied front, on various parts of a long ladder.

The Times, 26 June 1873:

Mr. Eyre Crowe, who usually sends us some embodiment of literary anecdote, has this year confined himself to bits of contemporary life of the more prosaic kind. If even such subjects as ... four house-painters at work on a house-front (234) ... can be made interesting by sincerity and conscientiousness of treatment, what fruit might not be expected from a deeper and tenderer or even more daring grasp of contemporary life?

Title: Tethered (1873)

Medium: oil

Exhibited: Royal Academy, 1873

Athenaeum, 10 May 1873:

Tethered (566) will reward careful study. It has been very completely thought out and executed.

Art Journal, July 1873:

'Tethered' (566) by EYRE CROWE, [has] all the accurate character of the painter's art.

Title: At the Pit-Door (1873)

Medium: oil

Exhibited: Royal Academy, 1873 

Athenaeum, 10 May 1873:

Mr. Crowe's remaining production, At the Pit Door (626) is his largest. It represents the crush at an entrance of a minor theatre on a night when a new piece is to be performed; in front is a strong barrier with a man on duty to defend it; the space within is strewn with caps, muffs, hats and bonnets, thrown there by playful individuals in the impatient crowd. A youth and his sweetheart have paid their money and triumphantly pass the barrier; others are struggling to get through. These figures present rich opportunities for a humourist: notice the indignant old lady, the riotous lads, the girls who are closely squeezed, the angry and the jocular folks. Each part has been heedfully drawn and painted - figure, face, costume, even the hands and accessories; and the work has that fidelity which is in itself a charm. Its solidity is all the more commendable because by no means common on these walls. Mr. Crowe has hardly succeeded in rendering the effect of gas-light.

Illustrated London News, 17 May 1873:

Far inferior [to 'Brothers of the Brush'] is the rush at 'The Pit Door' (626) of a theatre, which is vulgarly farcical; the lighting also is unsatisfactory.

The Times, 26 June 1873:

Mr. Eyre Crowe, who usually sends us some embodiment of literary anecdote, has this year confined himself to bits of contemporary life of the more prosaic kind. If even such subjects as ... the rush of a country audience into the pit on the appearance of a favourite star (625), can be made interesting by sincerity and conscientiousness of treatment, what fruit might not be expected from a deeper and tenderer or even more daring grasp of contemporary life?

According to Christopher Wood in Victorian Panorama: Paintings of Victorian Life (1976), in which this painting is reproduced, the crowd was queuing to see Miss Bateman in Leah. This would have been a fitting subject for Eyre Crowe to paint, as Kate Bateman married his brother George in 1866, and he followed her theatrical career with great interest. At the time of writing of Wood's book, the painting was in the ownership of the Harwood Gallery in Leeds.

Copyright (c) 2005 Kathryn J. Summerwill. All rights reserved.