Sir Augustus Wall Callcott (20 February 1779 – 2 November 1844) was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 landscape painter

Landscape art

Landscape art is a term that covers the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, and especially art where the main subject is a wide view, with its elements arranged into a coherent composition. In other works landscape backgrounds for figures can still...

Life and work

Callcott was born in Kensington

Kensington

Kensington is a district of west and central London, England within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. An affluent and densely-populated area, its commercial heart is Kensington High Street, and it contains the well-known museum district of South Kensington.To the north, Kensington is...

 gravel pits, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. His first study was music and he sang for several years in the choir of Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey

The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...

. He then became a student of the Royal Academy

Royal Academy

The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...

, and commenced his artistic career as a painter of portraits under the tuition of John Hoppner

John Hoppner

John Hoppner was an English portrait painter, .-Early life:Hoppner was born in Whitechapel, London, the son of German parents - his mother was one of the German attendants at the royal palace. King George's fatherly interest and patronage of the young boy gave rise to rumours, quite unfounded,...

. The first picture he exhibited was a portrait of "Miss Roberts", and its success at the Royal Academy in 1799 is said to have led to his final choice of painting as a profession.

His preference for landscape, including river and coast scenery, soon showed itself, and after 1804 he exhibited nothing but landscapes for many years. The skill of his execution, the elegance of his design, and the charming tone of his works caused his reputation to rise steadily. In 1806 he was elected an associate of the Royal Academy, and in
1810 a royal academician. The care which he bestowed upon his pictures restricted their number. From 1805 to 1810 he exhibited about four pictures a year, in 1811 ten pictures, and in 1812, six. From that year to 1822 he exhibited but seven works in all, but among these were some of his best and largest, such as "The Entrance to the Pool of London" (1816), "The Mouth of the Tyne" (1818), and "A Dead Calm on the Medway" (1820). Another important picture was "Rochester" (1824).

Though his subjects down to this time were generally taken from the scenery of his own country, he had visited France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 and Holland and had painted some Dutch and Flemish scenes before 1827, a date of much importance in his life, for in this year he married and went to Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 for the first time. His wife, Maria Graham, was the widow of Captain Graham, R.N., a lady who had already attained considerable literary reputation. On their return from Italy they took up their residence at the Gravel Pits, Kensington, where he resided till his death, enjoying great popularity. In 1830 he commenced to exhibit Italian compositions, and after this year the subjects of his pictures were generally foreign. Though to the last his works were marked by charm of composition and sweetness of execution, those produced before 1827 are now held in most esteem.

On the accession of Queen Victoria in 1837, Callcott received the honour of knighthood. In that year he departed from his usual class of subjects, and exhibited a picture of "Raffaelle and the Fornarina", with life-size figures,
finished with great care, which was engraved by Lumb Stocks for the London Art Union in 1843. This and "Milton dictating to his Daughters", exhibited in 1840, were the most important of his figure paintings, of which rare class of his work the South Kensington Museum (Sheepshanks Collection) (now the V&A contains two specimens, 'Anne Page and Slender' and ' Falstaff and Simple.' The museum also possesses several landscapes in oil and sketches in water colour, etc.

The figures in his landscapes were often important parts of the composition, and were always gracefully designed
and happily placed, as, for instance, in "Dutch Peasants returning from Market". In 1843 he succeeded William Seguier

William Seguier

William Seguier , was a British art dealer, painter, and official functionary in the art world. He was the first Keeper of the National Gallery, London.-Early life:...

 as Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures

Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures

The office of the Surveyor of the King's/Queen's Pictures, in the Royal Collection Department of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom, is responsible for the care and maintenance of the royal collection of pictures owned by the Sovereign in an official capacity – as...

.

Augustus Wall Callcott died on the 25th November 1944 and was buried in Kensal Green cemetery

Kensal Green Cemetery

Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in Kensal Green, in the west of London, England. It was immortalised in the lines of G. K. Chesterton's poem The Rolling English Road from his book The Flying Inn: "For there is good news yet to hear and fine things to be seen; Before we go to Paradise by way of...

.

There are qualities in Callcott's work which gained the admiration of J. M. W. Turner

J. M. W. Turner

Joseph Mallord William Turner RA was an English Romantic landscape painter, watercolourist and printmaker. Turner was considered a controversial figure in his day, but is now regarded as the artist who elevated landscape painting to an eminence rivalling history painting...

 and Thomas Stothard

Thomas Stothard

Thomas Stothard was an English painter, illustrator and engraver.-Life and work:Stothard was born in London, the son of a well-to-do innkeeper in Long Acre, London. A delicate child, he was sent at the age of five to a relative in Yorkshire, and attended school at Acomb, and afterwards at...

 in his day. He was generous in his patronage of younger artists.

Family

His wife, Maria

Maria Callcott

Maria Graham , later Maria, Lady Callcott , was a British writer of travel books and children's books, and also an accomplished illustrator....

 was a writer on art and travel. His brother, John Wall Callcott

John Wall Callcott

John Wall Callcott was an eminent English musical composer.Callcott was born in Kensington, London. He was a pupil of Haydn, and is celebrated mainly for his glee compositions and "catches". In the best known of his catches he ridiculed Sir John Hawkins' History of Music...

, was a noted composer.

External links

• A W Callcott online (ArtCyclopedia)