Description
An original c.1830s graphite drawing, Henry William Burgess, Lakeside Tree Study. An expertly sketched drawing by Henry William Burgess (c.1792-1839). Landscape painter to William IV & the teacher of John Leech & Thackeray, Burgess was part of a well-known dynasty of painters who flourished in the 18th & 19th centuries. He was known particularly for his drawings of trees & landscapes. This drawing forms part of a superb collection of works that we have for sale by Henry William Burgess (c.1792-1839). Some of the sketches in the collection are of specific picturesque sites, such as the ruins are Bayham Abbey, Kent or Leiston Abbey in Suffolk, but many are romanticised topographical scenes, of continental gorges or English parkland. Burgess was a drawing master at Charterhouse School & became landscape painter to William IV in 1826; it was landscape drawing & painting at which he excelled & he was known particularly for his drawings of trees. in 1827, with the lithographer Charles Joseph Hullmandel (1789-1850), he published a book of prints after his drawings, with the subtitle: Views of the general Character & Appearance of Trees Foreign & Indigenous as connected with picturesque Scenery. in this book, & in the present collection of drawings, the emphasis is as much on the art of drawing itself as about the subjects depicted. Trees, with their exuberant foliage & gnarled, twisted branches provide a fine subject for the tonal variety achievable in graphite & subsequent lithography. Sepia ink sketches & watercolour wash drawings in the collection also show the artist's mastery of tonal gradation & freedom of line. Burgess & Hullmandel were among the earliest practitioners of lithography in England. Burgess's attention to the qualities of light exhibited inks him to his contemporaries John Constable & J.M.W. Turner. H.W. Burgess was based in Chelsea like the rest of his family. Between 1809 & 1839 he exhibited many works at the Royal Academy, the Suffolk Street Gallery & the New Water-Colour Society in London. in the late 1820s & early 1830s Burgess gave drawing lessons to the Marquesses of Lothian, including Lady Harriet Kerr (1780-1833) & her daughter Lady Anne Katherine Kerr (1812-1829). A number of the Burgess drawings in this collection are accompanied by another sketch of the same subject by one of the Kerr family, providing an interesting counterpoint by which to appreciate Burgess's masterful skill, & giving insight into his teaching processes. Burgess's works can be found in the Royal Collection, British Museum, Victoria & Albert Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York & the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven. Age toning due to the artist's application of a wash. Please see photos for detail. Henry William Burgess, Lakeside Tree Study - Original C.1830S Graphite Drawing
