The Last Purchase, 1921
'The Last Purchase' (also called 'The New Purchase' and 'The Last Lot)' is significant in Fred Elwell's career as being the moment of synthesis, in a single painting, of all the strongest elements of his portraiture, still life and room interiors. All are handled meticulously in this, probably Elwell's most important single work. At the age of 85, James Elwell, the artist's father, is portrayed amongst his spoils from the latest antique auction, which he has set out for inspection. The painting captures the intensity and joy of the connoisseur as he repairs a vase with the craftsman's dexterity, and even tenderness. The scene is instilled with the artist's empathy for his subject. His respect for his father's skills leads him to give prominence to the tools of conservation; the paste, brushes, paints and magnifier are in the foreground in a composition which echoes Elwell's earliest still lives of fish. Fred's own fascination for curios is reflected in the almost Pre-Raphaelite sharpness of definition and the juxtaposition of complex patterns. The figure of James is astonishingly lifelike, with finely worked hairs and wrinkles on the hand. Wendy Loncaster, an expert on Elwellâs work, has suggested that he may have been influenced by the increased naturalism and attention to detail of an artistic movement called âThe New Sculptureâ. 'The Last Purchase' also reveals the height of perfection to which Elwell would strive. He insisted that even the thinnest of plates cast a shadow of some sort, which the artist must paint. On one occasion Elwell spent three full hours working on a sitterâs thumb. Much of Fredâs work is imbued with its own strong sense of place, and many of his paintings were set in specific and identifiable parts of his native town. When 'The Last Purchase' was painted in 1921 James was living with Fred and Mary at Bar House, their Beverley home. The setting is its book-lined study. Sadly, it was only five years after this painting that James died, at the ripe old age of 90. Poignantly, Elwell then changed one word of its title from âNewâ to âLastâ.
