William Pars
Encyclopedia
Life and works
Pars was born in LondonLondon
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...
, the son of a metal engraver
Engraving
Engraving is the practice of incising a design on to a hard, usually flat surface, by cutting grooves into it. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an intaglio printing plate, of copper or another metal, for printing...
. He studied at "Shipley's Drawing School" (in the Strand
Strand, London
Strand is a street in the City of Westminster, London, England. The street is just over three-quarters of a mile long. It currently starts at Trafalgar Square and runs east to join Fleet Street at Temple Bar, which marks the boundary of the City of London at this point, though its historical length...
), St. Martin's Lane Academy
St. Martin's Lane Academy
The St. Martin's Lane Academy, which was the precursor of the Royal Academy, was organized in 1735 by William Hogarth, from the circle of artists and designers who gathered at Slaughter's Coffee House at the upper end of St. Martin's Lane, London. The artistic set that introduced the Rococo style...
, and also in the Duke of Richmond's Gallery. In 1761, at the age of 17, he exhibited a portrait and miniatures at the Incorporated Society of Artists, and became a member of the Free Society of Artists in 1763. In 1764 he obtained the Society of Arts' medal for an historical painting.
In June 1764, he was selected by the Dilettanti Society to accompany, as draughtsman, Richard Chandler
Richard Chandler
Richard Chandler was an English antiquary.Chandler was educated at Winchester and at Queen's College, Oxford and Magdalen College, Oxford....
and Nicholas Revett
Nicholas Revett
Nicholas Revett was a Suffolk gentleman and amateur architect and artist.He is best known for his famous work with James Stuart documenting the ruins of ancient Athens. Its illustrations compose 5 folio volumes and include 368 etched and engraved plates, plans and maps drawn at scale...
to Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
. The result was published in 'Ionian Antiquities' (4 volumes) which was illustrated from Pars's drawings.
Pars returned to England on 2 December 1766, and soon after accompanied Henry Temple, 2nd Viscount Palmerston
Henry Temple, 2nd Viscount Palmerston
Henry Temple, 2nd Viscount Palmerston FRS was a British politician.-Life:He succeeded to the peerage in 1757, and was educated at Clare College, Cambridge from 1757 to 1759...
to the continent, making drawings in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, the Tyrol
County of Tyrol
The County of Tyrol, Princely County from 1504, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, from 1814 a province of the Austrian Empire and from 1867 a Cisleithanian crown land of Austria-Hungary...
, and Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. In 1769 he contributed seven views from Greece to the first exhibition 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...
. He was elected an associate in 1770, and in the following year he sent eight European views, chiefly of Switzerland and the Tyrol, together with one portrait. He contributed regularly (chiefly portraits) to the academy exhibitions till 1776.
In the summer of 1775 he travelled to Rome on a bursary
Bursary
A bursary is strictly an office for a bursar and his or her staff in a school or college.In modern English usage, the term has become synonymous with "bursary award", a monetary award made by an institution to an individual or a group to assist the development of their education.According to The...
of the Dilettanti Society, where artists such as John Warwick Smith
John Warwick Smith
John "Warwick" Smith was a British watercolour landscape painter and illustrator.-Life and work:John Smith was born at Irthington, near Carlisle, Cumberland, the son of a gardener to the Gilpin family, and was educated at St. Bees...
, Francis Towne
Francis Towne
Francis Towne was a British watercolour landscape painter.-Biography:Towne was born in Isleworth in Middlesex the son of a corn chandler. In 1752 he was apprenticed to a leading coach painter in London, Thomas Brookshead...
(a friend of Pars, who took some instruction in drawing from him) John Robert Cozens
John Robert Cozens
John Robert Cozens was a British draftsman and painter of romantic watercolour landscapes.-Biography:The son of the Russian-born drawing master and watercolorist, Alexander Cozens, John Robert Cozens was born in London. He studied under his father and began to exhibit some early drawings with the...
and Thomas Jones
Thomas Jones (artist)
Thomas Jones was a British landscape painter. He was a pupil of Richard Wilson and was best known in his lifetime as a painter of Welsh and Italian landscapes in the style of his master. However, Jones's reputation grew in the 20th century when more unconventional works by him, ones not been...
were working. He remained there till the autumn of 1782, when he died of pleurisy
Pleurisy
Pleurisy is an inflammation of the pleura, the lining of the pleural cavity surrounding the lungs. Among other things, infections are the most common cause of pleurisy....
(his wife having died in the city in June 1778).
A selection of Pars' Greek drawings was engraved by William Byrne for the Dilettanti Society; five of his Swiss drawings, including the 'Mer de Glace were engraved by William Woollett
William Woollett
William Woollett was an English engraver. He was born at Maidstone, of a family which came originally from the Netherlands....
; and several other drawings were aquatint
Aquatint
Aquatint is an intaglio printmaking technique, a variant of etching.Intaglio printmaking makes marks on the matrix that are capable of holding ink. The inked plate is passed through a printing press together with a sheet of paper, resulting in a transfer of the ink to the paper...
ed by Paul Sandby
Paul Sandby
Paul Sandby was an English map-maker turned landscape painter in watercolours, who, along with his older brother Thomas, became one of the founding members of the Royal Academy in 1768.-Life and work:...
.
Pars' elder brother Henry Pars (1734–1806) was a draughtsman and metal engraver, becoming the Principal of "Shipley's Drawing School".
See also
- James Stuart (1713–1788). Like Pars, he also recorded antiquities in Greece and accompanied Nicholas Revett on tours.
External links
- William Pars online (ArtCyclopedia)
- Biography (handprint.com - scroll down page)
- Biography and works ("History of Art")
- William Pars, A Sepulchral Monument at Mylasa
- St Peter's Rome (1770s Watercolour - V&A)