Chapter 2

[Footnote *: The "Treatise" has recently been republished as the Special Autumn Number of _The Studio_.]

Samuel Prout, one of the numerous Devonshire painters, also derived a great part of his income by giving instruction in drawing and painting. Numerous drawing copies for students were produced by him by means of soft-ground etching. He was at first employed by John Britton, the author of "The Beauties of England and Wales," in making topographical drawings for this work. In 1819 he went to Normandy for the benefit of his health. There he turned his attention to producing those paintings of cathedrals and picturesque buildings for which he is noted. Later he travelled through Germany and Switzerland to Italy, and visited Rome and Venice (see Plate XIX). Afterwards he published facsimiles of many of the drawings executed during these tours on the Continent. They were produced in lithography by himself on the stone, an art in which he greatly excelled. The architectural drawings by Prout are remarkable for their picturesque treatment, rather than for correctness of construction. Details are sparsely indicated by the use of a reed pen. Bright effects of light and shade are, however, given, and the introduction of groups of figures add brilliancy to these paintings.

James Duffield Harding, like Prout, from whom he received some lessons, also excelled in lithography. Many of his paintings were reproduced by him in a publication entitled "Sketches at Home and Abroad." He visited Italy on two occasions. _Vico, in the Bay of Naples_, between Castellamare and Sorrento (Plate XX), is an example of his free manner of painting. An engraving of it appeared in the "Landscape Annual" in 1832. He was a member of the "Old" Society, and also painted in oils. William Henry Hunt, familiarly called "Old" or "Billy" Hunt in his latter years by his fellow artists, to distinguish him from William Holman Hunt, was an artist with a style peculiar to himself. He painted figures, especially young rustics, with a sense of humour, but he is chiefly noted for his exquisite fruit and flower pieces, which were executed with great delicacy and with a remarkable power of rendering the effects of light and shade on the surface of the objects. To obtain these he would roughly pencil out, say, a group of plums, and thickly coat each one with Chinese white, which would be left to harden. On this ground he afterwards painted his colours with a sure hand. By this means he would obtain a brilliant effect. Further, to enhance it, he would make free use of the knife on the various surroundings to give a contrast, and at the same time to produce a feeling of texture on the various surfaces, so as not to have a monotonous and flat appearance. This method of scraping up portions of the surface of the paper is clearly shown in _Plucking the Fowl_ (Plate XXI).

James Holland commenced his artistic career by painting flowers on pottery at the factory of James Davenport at Burslem. He came to London and continued to paint flowers. After a visit to Paris he devoted himself to landscapes. Subsequently he visited Venice, and produced, in both oils and water colours, some excellent paintings remarkable for their brilliant colouring (see Plate XXII).

James Baker Pyne, born at Bristol, was a self-taught artist. He also is noted for his brilliant colouring, but there is a want of solidity in his painting. He visited the Continent and travelled as far as Italy (see Plate XXIII). His landscapes were chiefly river and lake subjects. He published "The English Lake District" and "The Lake Scenery of England," illustrated with lithographs of his works. He was a member of the Society of British Artists, and became a vice-president. Like Girtin, the illustrious young painter Richard Parkes Bonington was cut off in life at the early age of twenty-seven. He was born at Arnold, near Nottingham. Whilst still a boy he was taken by his parents to Calais, where he received some instruction in water colours from Francia. Later the family settled in Paris. Here Bonington resided the greater part of his life. He made a few visits to England, and on the last occasion he was taken ill and died of consumption. He practised at the Louvre and the _Institut_, and also received instruction from Baron Gros. His paintings, in oil and water colours, were almost entirely executed in France; he, however, made one visit to Italy. In Paris his works were chiefly architectural with street scenes, admirably executed, whilst his landscapes with fine atmospheric effects (see Plate XXIV) display great freedom in execution. It is somewhat remarkable that after Cotman and Bonington had, in the first part of the nineteenth century, developed a style so greatly appreciated at the present time, so many of the landscape painters in water colours in the early Victorian era should still have adhered to the old restricted methods. Constable exercised considerable influence on the French landscape painting in oil, whilst Bonington showed the French artists the capabilities of water colours, which they did not fail to appreciate.

H. M. Cundall.

Plate I "WINDSOR CASTLE: VIEW OF THE ROUND AND DEVIL'S TOWERS FROM THE BLACK ROCK" by Paul Sandby, R.A. (Size, 11-3/4 x 17-1/4 in.) (_Acquired by the National Art Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne_)

Plate II "ON THE DART" by Francis Towne (Size, 7 x 9-3/4 in.) (_In the possession of A. E. Hutton, Esq._)

Plate III "VILLAGE SCENE" by Michael (Angelo) Rooker, A.R.A. (Size, 14-1/2 x 18-1/4 in.) (_In the possession of Victor Rienaecker, Esq_.)

Plate IV "VIEW OF GLOUCESTER" by Thomas Hearne (Size, 7-1/2 X 10-1/2 in.) (_In the possession of Victor Rienaecker, Esq._)

Plate V "SCOTCH LANDSCAPE" by Joseph Farington, R.A. (Size, 20-3/4 x 33-3/4 in.) (_In the possession of Victor Rienaecker, Esq._)

Plate VI "OLD PALACE YARD, WESTMINSTER," by Thomas Malton, Jun. (Size, 13 x 19 in.) (_In the possession of R. W. Lloyd, Esq._)

Plate VII "FURNESS ABBEY, LANCASHIRE" by Edward Dayes (Size, 27-1/2 X 20-3/4 in.) (_In the possession of Victor Rienaecker, Esq_.)

Plate VIII "PREPARING FOR MARKET" by Francis Wheatley, R.A., (Size, 14 x 10 in.) (_In the possession of Messrs. Thos. Agnew & Sons_)

Plate IX "ENTRANCE TO VAUXHALL GARDENS" by Thomas Rowlandson (Size, 9 X 12-7/8 in.) (_In the possession of Victor Rienaecker, Esq._)

Plate X "LAKE NEMI" by John Robert Cozens (Size, 14-1/2 X 21 in.) (_In the possession of R. W. Lloyd, Esq._)

Plate XI LANDSCAPE by Thomas Girtin (Size, 12-1/4 X 20-1/2 in.) (_In the possession of R. W. Lloyd, Esq._)

Plate XII "LUCERNE: MOONLIGHT" by J. M. W. Turner, R.A. (Size, 11-1/2 x 18-3/4 in.) (_In the possession of R. W. Lloyd, Esq._)

Plate XIII "CLASSICAL SCENE" by John Sell Cotman (Size, 11-1/2 x 8-1/4 in.) (_In the possession of G. Bellingham Smith, Esq._)

Plate XIV "HACKNEY CHURCH" by John Varley (Size, 11 X 15 in.) (_In the possession of R. W. Lloyd, Esq._)

Plate XV "VIEW IN NORTH WALES" by John Glover (Size, 16-1/8 x 23 in.) (_In the possession of Victor Rienaecker, Esq._)

Plate XVI "ST. ALBANS" by Peter De Wint (Size, 9-3/4 X 14-1/2 in.) (_In the possession of R. W. Lloyd, Esq._)

Plate XVII "LAKE SCENE" by A. V. Copley Fielding (Size, 12-1/4 x 16-1/8 in.) (_In the Possession of Victor Rienaecker, Esq._)

Plate XVIII "BOYS FISHING" by David Cox (Size, 10-1/2 x 14-1/2 in.) (_In the possession of R. W. Lloyd, Esq._)

Plate XIX "PALAZZO CONTARINI FASAN ON THE GRAND CANAL, VENICE" by Samuel Prout (Size, 16-7/8 x 11-1/2 in.) (_In the Victoria and Albert Museum_)

Plate XX "VICO, BAY OF NAPLES" by James Duffield Harding (Size, 8-1/2 x 11-3/4 in.) (_In the possession of Victor Rienaecker, Esq._)

Plate XXI "PLUCKING THE FOWL" by William Henry Hunt (Size, 13-3/4 x 14-1/2 in.) (_In the possession of R. W. Lloyd, Esq._)

Plate XXII "A SHRINE IN VENICE" by James Holland (Size, 9-3/4 x 6-1/2 in.) (_In the possession of Victor Rienaecker, Esq._)

Plate XXIII "VIEW IN ITALY" by James Baker Pyne (Size, 10-3/4 x 17 in.) (_In the possession of R. W. Lloyd, Esq._)

Plate XXIV "NEAR JUMIEGES" by Richard Parkes Bonington (Size 8-3/4 x 12-1/4 in.) (_In the possession of Messrs. Thos. Agnew & Sons_)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Erratum (noted by transcriber)

Ephraim Hardcastle [Ephriam]

End of Project Gutenberg's Masters of Water-Colour Painting, by H. M. Cundall