St. Albans Grand Steeple Chase, 8 March 1832: Plate 3: Turning an Angle

Location

Country: Ireland
City: Dublin
Place: British Embassy

The painter of coaching and sporting subjects, and engraver James Pollard was the son and pupil of Robert Pollard (1755-1838), an engraver and publisher. He also received help and advice from the wood-engraver and naturalist Thomas Bewick (1753-1828). In 1820 Pollard began to paint coaching scenes and by 1825 he was successful enough to leave his father, marry, and set up on his own. He exhibited a few works at the Royal Academy, the British Institution and the Society of British Artists in Suffolk Street, but worked mainly for dealers and private patrons. In 1840 both his wife and youngest daughter died. This was a blow from which he never fully recovered and his later work shows evidence of decline.
Watercolour painter and engraver Charles Bentley is best-known for painting breezy scenes off the English coast. He was born in London; the son of a master carpenter. Bentley was apprenticed to printmaker Theodore Fielding and later spent time in Paris with Theodore’s brother, watercolourist Newton Fielding. From 1827 Bentley made a modest living as an engraver and illustrator. He was elected a member of the Society of Painters in Water Colours (1843) and exhibited 209 works from 1834 to his death. He was a friend of artist William Callow; with whom he made several sketching trips, including a tour of Normandy (1841). The two shared a home in Charlotte Street, Bloomsbury, from 1843 to 1846. Bentley died in Hampstead, at the age of 48.

Places

England, Hertfordshire

Subjects

horseback, horse-racing, jockey, topography, tree, horse, gate

Materials & Techniques

aquatint, colour aquatint

Artist

James Pollard (1792 - 1867)
Charles Bentley (1806 - 1854)

Title

St. Albans Grand Steeple Chase, 8 March 1832: Plate 3: Turning an Angle

Date

Medium

Colour aquatint

Acquisition

Purchased from Parker Gallery, August 1974

GAC number

11378