This month we feature a charcoal drawing entitled ‘The Canal, Brussels’ dating to 1894, by artist Marcel Jefferys (1872-1922).

About the artwork

This artwork is not in the best of conditions, yet the ability of the artist to evoke a desolate, marshland scene, through a few well-chosen marks in charcoal, is evident. In black and white, this landscape depicts a rural scene in which nature overtakes human cultivation. The fences are dilapidated, and the reeds are abundant in the waterway, it feels as if the land might be marshy and the sky heavy with oncoming rain.

The work is signed and dated by the artist, to the bottom left hand of the work. The artwork is mounted on blue card, which, like the work itself, is unrestored. There is an interesting dedication, in the hand of the artist, on the right hand side of the mount, which says, “Madamoiselle Bertha, remerciements adieux Marcel Jeff…’.(Miss Bertha, thankyous, goodbyes, Marcel Jeff..’) But who is this mysterious ‘Bertha’?

The overall sentiment which this picture conveys, taking the inscription into account, is of sadness, goodbyes, and possibly loss, in a romantic kind of way.

About the artist

Marcel Jefferys was born in Milan. His mother was Belgian and his father English. When he was eight, he and his family moved to his mother’s native land, where they resided in Brussels.
Marcel received some formal artistic training there, and his early work was classed as part of the ‘Luminist’ movement – whose artwork, as its name suggests, paid particular attention to light effects in art. Later on, Jefferys’s work changed to a more Post Impressionist style – less attention to the naturalistic, more exaggerated colours and tending towards the abstract.

Jefferys travelled extensively; in 1893 he travelled to the United States, and he also painted in France and the UK.

A fascinating newspaper article in the Bristol Times and Mirror, from 11 November 1916 (during the First World War), related how ‘Marcel Jefferys, an artist’, was summoned for making a sketch within a prohibited area – Clevedon, on October 20th’. The article went on to describe how the Coastguard had spotted Jefferys sketching by the channel at Clevedon (near Bristol), which Jefferys thought was deemed to be ‘inland’ rather than on the coast, where sketching was prohibited at a time of war. Jefferys received a fine of five shillings. Interestingly the same article reported that Jefferys was a resident of Brussels, from where he had escaped in 1914, when the Germans took over most of his property. It was also noted that both his sons were fighting in the Belgian Army.

Jefferys stayed in England during the First World War, living in Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, London. During this time he painted many scenes of London as well as still lives, mainly on small canvases.

As well as painting, Jefferys was known for his designs for wallpaper, fabrics, furniture and tapestries.

The Devon Connection

Returning to the subject of ‘Bertha’ we can now reveal who Bertha was. She was one of the singing Salter sisters, originally from Colebrooke near Crediton, Devon.

She and her sister Florence trained as singers and performed, initially in Devon and later in Brussels where they received additional singing training and attended operatic and drama classes. The sisters performed in front of Royalty and celebrities in both Belgium (in 1893) and France and received critical acclaim in the French press. They were known as the ‘Devonshire Nightingales’.

They eventually returned to London and performed there and throughout the UK. It is believed that somewhere between 1936 and 1941, they returned to Devon, to live in Dawlish. Florence Salter died in 1942 and Bertha in 1959. She bequeathed several artworks, including her portrait, and this drawing by Marcel Jefferys, to the University of Exeter.

This artwork, dedicated to Bertha when she was aged 22, and matching the date and the subject matter of the canal in Brussels,we can suppose that the artist and the singer knew each other when both were living in Brussels. More than that must be left to the imagination….

Find out more about the Salter sisters here.

Acknowledgements

The Bristol Times and Mirror,11 November 1916
Colebrook Parish Website (https://www.colebrooke.org/personalities/saltersisters/)
Simonis & Buunk Fine Art Dealers (https://www.simonis-buunk.com/artist/marcel-jefferys/artworks-for-sale/4035/)
Wikipedia