David Rolt - treescapes and seascapes

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David Rolt - treescapes and seascapes - Irish winter treescape

£350

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David Rolt - treescapes and seascapes - Apple blossom with blue cart

£350

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David Rolt - treescapes and seascapes - Double treescape

£295

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About the artist

Born in Yorkshire in 1915 David Rolt was one of the most sought-after English portrait and landscape painters of the 1940s and ’50s. From the early 1940s his landscapes and portraits – characterized by their bold line and use of colour - were being shown at the Royal Academy and New English Art Club.

His work caught the eye of the leading London gallerist Sir Jack Baer, who staged five exhibitions Rolt’s work at the Hazlitt Gallery between 1949 and 1957, which were followed by international exhibitions in New York, Capetown and Istanbul. Baer said: David Rolt was never a flashy painter. He painted with craftsmanship and elegant intelligence.

You can see more of David Rolt’s work at David Rolt - a sense of place and David Rolt - portraits

Rolt’s portrait subjects included some of the most celebrated figures in British society of the war and post-war years, including Sir Arthur “Bomber” Harris, the magnate Nubar Gulbenkian, the politician and writer Harold Nicolson, Viola Duchess of Westminster, and actress Valerie Hobson. Rolt’s landscape paintings, which typically feature windswept trees or rocky shores reflect the wildly fluctuating emotional climate of the artist’s life, sometimes sun-drenched, sometimes wintry-bleak.

Rolt had been partially crippled at birth, when a forceps delivery damaged his skull and left him with lifelong disability in his right arm and one of his legs. Despite these handicaps, his artistic talent thrived and secured him a place at the Slade School of Fine Art. In his early twenties Rolt had formed a relationship with Mel Russell-Cooke, daughter of the captain of the Titanic. A vivacious woman who drove fast cars and held a pilot’s licence, she was 18 years older older than Rolt and already married, but their relationship continued until the artist was in his 40s.

Then, in 1959, his friend Valerie Hobson introduced him to a young debutante, Penelope “Minnie” Bradford, who was more than 20 years younger than Rolt. The artist was smitten; weeks later they were married. The marriage produced two children but only lasted ten years. After their divorce Minnie re-married twice; Rolt never married again, but his friendship with Mel continued until her death in 1973. Mel and Minnie feature in several of Rolt’s portraits. David Rolt died in 1985: after suffering severe pain for several years caused by the disabilities he had suffered from birth, he underwent surgery but did not survive the operation. He is buried in Budleigh Salterton in Devon.

A memorial exhibition of his work was held at the Audun gallery in London in 1986. For many years after he had died almost all his commissioned work remained in private hands and very rarely appeared on the open market. But recent sales of his portraits and landscapes suggest that Rolt’s work is now beginning to attract the attention it deserves. The tide turned in September 2012 when his Self Portrait with Black Hat (see above) fetched £13,750 at Christie’s in London. The portrait, which came from the personal collection that Rolt left to his family, was the first of his oil paintings to be offered for sale in many years. The pictures shown here are from the artist’s estate and come with a signed certificate of provenance.

Please note that the pictures are not shown to scale. Check the dimensions if you need accurate measurements. The dimensions provided are of the work without frame. If you would like the framed dimensions please email info@roberteaglefineart.co.uk


A brief introduction to the work of David Rolt, who painted portraits for a living and painted trees for love - from the video created for our 2021 exhibition "Inspired by trees".

Video


The Works

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Winter treescape

£495

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Windswept tree, South of France

£1200

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SOLD
Late afternoon treescape
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Late afternoon treescape (limited edition)

£185

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Mountain treescape, South of France

£350

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Woodland avenue, Provence

£4500

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Woodland Avenue (limited edition)

£160

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Mountain treescape II, South of France

£395

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SOLD
Rocks and waves
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SOLD
Stormy treescape
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SOLD
Clouds and trees
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Provencal treescape

£595

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SOLD
Rocky shore
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Elm in summer

£395

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SOLD
Olive grove, South of France
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SOLD
Trees by the road, Co Mayo
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SOLD
Dawn treescape
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SOLD
Chemin d'arbres
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Treescape, Fresden
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Winter in Essex

£150

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Double treescape

£295

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Country garden

£225

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SOLD
Ghostly treescape
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SOLD
Avenue at St Remy
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Brown/blue landscape

£275

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Leaning treescape 3

£150

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Blasted tree

£195

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Leaning treescape 1

£195

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Leaning treescape 2

£175

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Los Gigantes

£195

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Red Dawn treescape

£45

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Last of the elms

£195

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Olive tree, South of France

£495

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SOLD
House in the forest III
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Wild woodland, Provence

£395

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Apple blossom with blue cart

£350

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SOLD
Normandy forest
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SOLD
Red Treescape the ambassador's garden
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SOLD
Croagh Patrick, Ireland
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SOLD
Coloured treescape
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Autumn at Fresden

£350

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Red willows III (Fresden)

£395

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SOLD
Waves and clouds, Ireland
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Rolling country, fence poles
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SOLD
Five elms
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SOLD
Twin elms
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Woodland avenue

£795

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Wild Provencal treescape

£395

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SOLD
Blue canopy
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Forest, hills and sea

£195

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SOLD
Clew Bay
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Blue treescape

£395

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Seascape, St Lucia III

£195

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Seascape, St Lucia

£195

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Seascape, St Lucia II

£195

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Orange, yellow treescape

£148

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Ghostly treescape

£40

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Tall brown elm

£195

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Trees and sea, South of France

£50

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Dancing trees

£43

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Meadow treescape

£147

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Ink treescape

£35

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Elm copse

£175

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Struck by lightning

£150

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Coloured treescape 0812

£45

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Ink treescape II

£45

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Irish winter treescape

£350

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SOLD
View from a country house window
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Summer house on the Bosphorus

£147

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Seascape, Saint Lucia IV

£295

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Golden elm

£150

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Dancing treescape
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Forest near San Juan

£200

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Unfinished treescape, South of France

£195

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Cap Ferrat

£50

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Blue grey treescape

£95

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