(1783 - 1852)
Watercolourist Samuel Prout was born in Plymouth, Devon; one of 14 children of a shopkeeper. He studied under painter and illustrator Thomas H. Williams, before moving to London in 1802, where he made illustrations for John Britton’s ‘Architectural Antiquities of Great Britain’ (published 1807). Prout’s friends included aristocratic patrons and he taught members of their families and was drawing master at Dr Glennie’s School, Dulwich (1809–21). He published several books on how to draw and paint and was a pioneer in the technique of lithography. Prout visited Normandy in 1819 and, over the next ten years, made repeated visits to France, Belgium, Germany and Italy. He died at 68, having suffered a fit after attending Ruskin’s birthday party.
