Ernest Radford

“ Tuer has formed of the engraver is, it need hardly be said, too favourable. If we speak of Bartolozzi as an engraver purely, it is hard to overpraise him; but it was of trifling things that he was the delightful and even exquisitely graceful designer. We must, however, remember in all estimation of him the taste of his time. The artists of the eighteenth century found inspiration in subjects of awful vapidity. It is on that account that we have from Bartolozzi's hand prints of ‘Cupid refusing Love to Desire,’ of ‘Venus recommending Hymen to Cupid,’ and many more not less sickly and absurd. ”

“ He was for a long while a fashionable portrait painter; but the great reputation of Lawrence had outshone his own some years before he finally retired. 'His colouring,' according to Redgrave, 'was pleasing. He excelled in his females and children; but his males wanted power. His draperies were poor and ill-cast, and he showed no ability to overcome the graceless stiffness which then prevailed in dress. Yet he possessed much merit, and his portraits have maintained a respectable second rank.' In 1836 he sold his collection of works of art and retired to Hampstead. ”

“ In 1766 he gained a premium at the Society of Arts. He practised as a landscape painter, and also as a drawing master. Like his brother he excelled as a performer upon the violin; like him, also, he reached no more than a moderate excellence in his proper profession. His skill upon the violin gained him an introduction to Sir Edward Walpole, who gave him a situation in the exchequer, which in 1808 he still held. ”

“ Several writers insist upon the great constructive skill of Alexander's, work, and upon those qualities of sound sense and sure knowledge which gained for him his high place amongst the architects of the century. A writer in the ‘Gentleman's Magazine’ (August 1846) says, ‘a characteristic fitness of purpose was prominent in every building, whether a principal or a subordinate one, and in his hands the architecture, whatever it was, was ever made to grow out of and to form an inherent necessity of the structure. ”

“ Whatever of taste, beauty, and judgment in decoration, by means of portraits, landscapes, houses and tombs, flowers, birds, insects, heraldic ornaments and devices, could dress our immortal bard in a yet more fascinating form, has been accomplished by a noble hand which undertook a Herculean task, and with a truth, delicacy, and finish of execution which have been very rarely imitated.' The work was completed in five volumes. ”

“ It was true, however, that his natural bent was not towards classic art. He had no imagination, and little fire of genius; but he had good sense and a quickened commercial instinct, which led to a just apprehension of what was wanted to be done. ”

“ In 1769 he received from the hand of Reynolds the first gold medal for sculpture awarded by the Royal Academy. His subject was a bas-relief representing 'Æneas escaping from Troy.' He further increased his reputation by a statue of Mars. This work obtained for its artist the gold medal of the Society of Arts, and his election (in 1770) as an associate of the Royal Academy. It attracted the attention also of the Archbishop of York, and so led to a commission for a bust of the king for the hall of Christ Church, Oxford. From that time Bacon's career was one of unbroken prosperity. ”

“ He painted a 'Ceres' and a 'Hercules,' and left some paintings at Redgrave Hall, Suffolk, his father's seat. In a note to Walpole is a recipe for the preparation of a particular 'browne-pinke' colour used by the said Nathaniel, which was 'so very good' that a certain painter, 'P. Oliver, did highly commend it, and used none other to his dyinge day, wherewith, and with Indian lake, he made sure expressions of those deep and glowing shadows in those histories he copied after Titian, that no painting should appear more warm and fleshy than those of his hand'! ”

“ BROOKING, CHARLES (1723–1759) , marine painter, was 'bred in some department in the dockyard at Deptford, but practised as a ship painter, in which he certainly excelled all his countrymen.' This is the account given by Edwards of a painter of whom now there is little to be known. Hewas a friend of Dominic Serres. An anecdote told by that artist to Edwards shows that Brooking, like many painters then and now, was in the hands of dealers. They would not allow him to sign his works, and through that prohibition it happened that he found a private patron only when patronage could do him no good. ”

“ Prout and Harding were admirers of Bright's pictures and sketches. The queen and the prince consort were among his earliest patrons. In 1844 a water-colour painting called 'Entrance to an old Prussian Lawn - Winter - Evening effect' was bought by her majesty, who now possesses several others of Bright's works. As a teacher of his art Bright was for some years very popular, and derived nearly 2,000l. a year from this branch of his profession. Bright's pictures are varied in subject, and usually masterly in manipulation. His colouring is rich and deep. ”

“ I believe you could paint riding post.' He left England, and worked as a portrait-painter in the courts of France and of Denmark. Still later he entered the service of the Queen of Sweden, and was sent by her to various courts of Europe with a commission to paint portraits of the most illustrious persons of Christendom. This information we find in Cornelius de Bie's 'Het gulden Cabinet,' where is also a panegyrical poem and a fine, as well as very handsome, portrait of the painter. He accompanied the queen to Rome, and was elected a member of the painters' guild of that city in 1653. ”

“ CHAMBERS, GEORGE (1803–1840) , marine painter, born in 1803, was the son of a Whitby seaman. When ten years old he was sent to sea in a coasting vessel, and was afterwards apprenticed to the master of a brig trading in the Mediterranean and Baltic. He was early devoted to drawing, and pleased his skipper and crew by making sketches of different kinds of vessels, so much so that at the boy's request the captain cancelled his indentures in order that he might give himself wholly to painting. Returning to Whitby he got employment as a house-painter. ”

“ Nevertheless, Champion's affairs did not prosper. The various people who had put money into the concern lost it. The last dated work from his factory is a statuette of Grief, which commemorates Champion's loss of his daughter in 1779. In 1781, after several attempts, he was able to dispose of his patent to a company of Staffordshire potters, who founded the 'hard porcelain' works at 'New Hall,' Shelton. In 1782, through the influence of Burke, Champion was appointed 'joint-deputy paymaster-general of his majesty's forces,' with young Richard Burke as his colleague, and a salary of 500l. ”

“ BEHNES or BURLOWE, HENRY (d. 1837) , sculptor, was the younger brother of William Behnes, the sculptor. Both brothers were determined in their choice of a profession by the same circumstance [see Behnes, William] . Henry, being a much inferior artist, was honourably anxious to prevent confusion in the public mind, and took the name of Burlowe. The irregularities of William Behnes are considered to have added a strong incentive to this act of repudiation. Henry exhibited at the Academy in 1831-2-3. He afterwards went to Rome, and was much employed as a bust modeller. ”

“ In 1807 he published ‘A Picturesque Representation, in one hundred coloured plates, of the Naval, Military, and Miscellaneous Costumes of Great Britain,’ and in the same year a set of soft-ground etchings to illustrate the misery of human life. The two first-named of these works will be found in the print-room of the British Museum. The plates are all etched (in soft ground) by the artist himself, and printed in colours. We have few better examples of aquatint engraving than these supply, and no collected specimens of Atkinson's work so readily accessible. ”

“ BEAUMONT, Sir ALBANIS (d. 1810?) , draughtsman, aquatint engraver, and landscape painter, was born in Piedmont, but naturalised in England. Between the years 1787 and 1806 he published a great number of views in the south of France, in the Alps, and in Italy. The short account of him in Füssli's 'Lexicon' (1806) is the best: 'Probably a Piedmontese, and the son of Claudio Francesco, he carried the sounding title of "Architecte pensionné de D. M. le roi de Sardaigne à la suite de S. A. R. le duc de Gloucester." ”

“ About eight years ago, he being then in Switzerland, a rich Englishman asked him to paint his favourite dog which had died. The Englishman was so pleased with his work that he took the painter to England with him.’ Nagler says that he was one of the most celebrated animal painters at the end of the last and the beginning of this century. ”

“ His influence is attested by the fact that almost all mahogany furniture of the last century is nowadays referred by the ignorant to ‘Chippendale.’ Speaking generally of his work, it is at once heavier in style and less severe in ornamentation than the slender and tasteful designs of Heppelwhite and Sheraton a quarter of a century later. Elaborate and delicate, Chippendale’s designs are overwrought, and show nothing of that architectonic feeling without which there can be no true designing of furniture. His work as a whole reflects the culture of his age. ”

“ He lived at Culford, in Suffolk, on an estate given to him by his father. There is a monument to him in the church there, and one to his wife, Jane Meautys, the widow of Sir William Cornwallis. He is there described as 'well skilled in the history of plants, and in delineating them with his pencil.' Walpole speaks of him as having 'really attained the perfection of a master.' He studied painting in Italy, but his style was rather Flemish than Italian. ”

“ Champion was born in 1743, and in 1751 he was sent to London to join his father. In 1762 he returned to Bristol, and entered the office of his uncle, Richard Champion, merchant of that city. In 1764 he married Judith Lloyd. In the same year he made acquaintance with William Cookworthy. In 1768 he commenced china-making. (It has been established that china was made at the Castle Green works, Bristol, before either Champion or Cookworthy was connected with them.) In 1770, as before stated, he became Cookworthy's partner and manager. Champion took a lively part in the politics of his city. ”

“ BALLANTINE, JAMES (1808–1877) , artist and man of letters, born at Edinburgh in 1808, was entirely a self-made man. His first occupation was that of a house-painter. He learned drawing under Sir William Allen at the Trustees' Gallery in Edinburgh, and was one of the first to revive the art of glass-painting. ”

“ ATKINSON, WILLIAM (1773?–1839) , architect, was born at Bishop's Auckland, near Durham. He began life as a carpenter. Through the patronage of the then bishop of Durham, he became a pupil of James Wyatt. In 1795 he obtained the Academy gold medal for designs for a court of justice. In 1805 he published ‘Picturesque Views of Cottages,’ 4to, London. He had many pupils, and was practically and theoretically an able architect. He was engaged on many important works, and built several large mansions, amongst them Lord Mansfield's house at Scone. ”

“ A fine water-colour study for this picture in the print-room attests its merit. Composition and colouring are excellently good, the figure-drawing is spirited and lifelike, though seldom faultless. In the drawing of horses Atkinson was no master. There are various differences between this water-colour study and the engraving from the finished picture. In 1808 he exhibited as an ‘associate’ at the Water-Colour Society. ”

“ BONNAR, WILLIAM (1800–1853) , painter, was a native of Edinburgh, and son of a respectable house-painter. After the usual precocious evidences of talent he was apprenticed to one of the leading decorative painters of his time, and ultimately became foreman of the establishment On the occasion of George IV's visit to Edinburgh in 1822 Bonnar helped Mr. D. Roberts to decorate the assembly rooms for a state ball. A little while after some sign-boards which he had painted caught the attention of Captain Basil Hall, who sought out and encouraged the young painter. ”

“ BARON, BERNARD (d. 1762) , engraver, son-in-law and pupil of Nicholas Tardieu, was born in Paris about 1700. He came to London with Dubosc and other engravers. In 1729 he returned for a short while to Paris, and there engraved a plate after Watteau, and sat for his portrait to Vanloo. He engraved a vast number of works. Heineken mentions Vandyck, Kneller, Hogarth, Rubens, Titian, Watteau, David Teniers, Gravelot, and Vanloo, with many more, as artists whose works were reproduced by Baron. ”