View of the Pantheon, etc, Stourhead Gardens, Wiltshire, Seat of Sir Richard Colt Hoare Bart.

Location

Country: UK
City: London
Place: Government Art Collection

Francis Nicholson was born in Pickering, Yorkshire, but lived in Whitby, Knaresborough and Ripon, before moving to London in around 1803. After studying under local artists in Yorkshire, he spent some 30 years painting portraits and animals, mainly in oil. However, from the mid-1780 he turned to watercolour, sending his watercolour landscapes to Royal Academy exhibitions from 1789 and supplying topographical views to ‘Copper Plate Magazine’. He experimented with different methods and processes of watercolour painting and published ‘The Practice of Drawing and Painting Landscapes from Nature in Watercolour’ (1820). Nicholson was also a popular teacher. In 1804 he became a founder-member of the Society of Painters in Water-Colours.
Robert Havell senior, son of artist and publisher Daniel Havell, was born in Reading but moved to London as a child. After Robert launched his career, father and son collaborated on illustrations for Henry Salt’s ‘Twenty Four Views Taken in St. Helena’ (1809–10). However, the partnership was short-lived and Robert later established himself at premises in Fitzrovia. He married Lydia Miller Phillips and had a son, Robert junior. Robert junior and his father formed the firm of R. Havell & Son, working on numerous projects including ‘Birds of America’ for John James Audubon. The scale of this project led them to employ 50 additional staff and move to larger premises in Oxford Street. Robert senior died a year after the company expansion.
Robert Havell junior was the son of painter, engraver and publisher Robert Havell senior. Together with his father, Robert junior formed the firm of R. Havell & Son. Father and son worked jointly on numerous projects, including their ‘Series of Views of the Public Buildings & Bridges in London’ (1821-22) and ‘Birds of America’ (1827-39) for the American ornithologist John James Audubon. However, Robert senior died in 1832, leaving his son to complete the project. In the following few years Havell focused on oil painting. As a result of his friendship with Audubon, he decided to emigrate to America, moving to Tarrytown, New York state, in 1857. Here he became a leading member of the Hudson River school. He died in Tarrytown at the age of 84.

Places

England, Wiltshire

Subjects

wheelbarrow, scythe, gardener, topography, Victorian Genre, tree, dog, swan, lake, island, man, woman, girl, 19th century costume, dress, path, garden, country house/mansion, folly, portico, tower, punt

Materials & Techniques

aquatint, coloured aquatint

Artist

Francis Nicholson (1753 - 1844)
Robert, Snr Havell (1769 - 1832)
Robert, Jnr Havell (1793 - 1878)

Title

View of the Pantheon, etc, Stourhead Gardens, Wiltshire, Seat of Sir Richard Colt Hoare Bart.

Date

1 September 1817

Medium

Coloured aquatint

Acquisition

Purchased from Agnews, March 1959

GAC number

4910