Current Mystery Painting

From time to time, we come across works of art that lack clear attribution to an artist and even our best efforts at research fail to establish authorship. We call these our Mystery Paintings. Not all these orphan works are masterpieces, although many lost masterpieces do wander the world waiting to be recognized. However, there are also many perfectly respectable lesser works that deserve to be accurately attributed.

Below is one of our current challenges. Perhaps you know the signature. Perhaps you recognize the style.

We will pay a reward of $250 for the certain identification of the artist.

MYSTERY ARTIST

(English School, 19th century)

OLIVE GROVES BENEATH ORVIETO, UMBRIA

Watercolor on Paper Mounted on Board

9½ x 14½ Inches

Signed Lower Right with Monogram and Dated 1883

The letters comprising this monogram are open to interpretation. The dominant letter, "W", with its curved sides, appears to have a serif  surmounting the central pyramid. This suggests that the left-hand secondary letter is either an "F" or "H" and the right-hand secondary letter is either an "R" or, possibly, a "B". The highly sophisticated and detailed watercolor style suggests an English artist. The convention of 19th-century English artist monograms is that the dominant letter is usually the initial of the last name. But this is not always the case... :)