Two Albums of Original Drawings and Watercolours.

2 volumes. Folio. Containing: Volume 1 – 185 drawings on 150 pages; Volume 2 – 77 drawings on 75 pages. The images are pasted into 2 printed volumes of Public General Acts for 1753 with many printed pages removed to avoid the consequent swelling of the volumes. Both volumes full panelled calf, gilt, a little worn and hinges cracked but sound. John Russell 1745 -1806. "The finest painter in crayon this country ever produced." John Russell was a precociously talented artist who began drawing at an early age. At 14 he won a prize of four guineas from the Society of Arts. On leaving school in Guildford he trained under Francis Cotes, one of the pioneers of English pastel painting. He set up his own studio in London in 1767, aged 22, and was for the rest of his life in great demand as a portrait painter. His brilliantly coloured chalk portraits were highly appreciated by fashionable society and were considered to be on a par with those of Sir Joshua Reynolds. Such was his reputation that he was appointed Crayon Painter to George III in 1790. Russell was a man of deep religious beliefs, an evangelical Methodist who was unwilling to go out to dinner on account of any blasphemous conversation he might hear. An obsessive individual, he spent some twenty years observing and depicting the moon and his pastel drawing of The Face of the Moon is regarded as " the most faithful early representation of the lunar sphere." He began a bizarre shorthand diary in 1766 which he continued for the rest of his life and which details not only his spiritual concerns, the language extravagant and violent, but also the extensive travels he made around England in carrying out his commissions. In 1773 he walked from Guildford to Putney. In 1772 he was in Cambridge; Worcester and Shrewsbury in 1778 and Oxford in 1781. His travels seem to have taken him the length and breadth of the country, from Sussex and East Anglia to the North and in particular Leeds. The first album of drawings and sketches is a testament to Russell's astonishing precociousness. He copies an engraving by Worlidge which is the equal in technique to the original and signs it with youthful bravado "John Russell Fecit Aetat 13, 1758." Such is his confidence that an even earlier work, a highly accomplished pen and ink drawing of Vienna is offered with the customary flourish "Aetat 12, 1757 John Russell Fecit." Two years later he produced a fine watercolour of Rome, "aetat 14" which is as detailed and impressive as any other topographical work of the period. Inevitably much of the album consists of copies of engravings available to the young man in his father's bookshop in Guildford. He takes an engraving by Worlidge of a man standing with a walking stick and copies it again and again, each time refining and developing techniques which would later assist him as a portrait painter, until, at the seventh attempt, he finally appears satisfied. The four drawings of a young woman, a member of his family perhaps, show the fine appreciation of the female form which was later to propel him to the forefront of society portraitists and reveal a talent for drawing which is quite simply astounding. Particularly striking are Russell's depictions of the human face, present in this volume in many different moods and expressions, and even at this young age it is clear that he is able to portray the inner self with a mastery of techniques absent in lesser artists. In one drawing he betrays the fearlessness of youth in copying an etching by Rembrandt, the end result being in no way unflattering to Russell. Youthful humour is evident in his drawing of a boy being spanked, superior draughtsmanship can be observed in his depiction of two men smoking a pipe and a masterful use of colour is displayed in the portrait of a native. They are, in short, the product of a youthful yet considerable genius. Mythological and religious studies abound, in particular a heavenly chariot, surrounded by putti as well as an accomplished rendering of the Virgin with child. His particular talent lies in his depiction of the human face and drawing after drawing record the features of men, women and children, some famous, copied from engravings, but many clearly inspired by his family and neighbours in Guildford and all of them pointing the way to his future career as a brilliant portrait painter. The second album is of a quite different nature and provides a pictorial record of Russell's extensive travels around England. Indeed, in an article in the periodical The World in 1788 there is a mention of his interest in landscape art: "He has varied from Portraits into Landscapes." The album begins with a fine drawing of Merton College, taken from Christ Church Meadow in 1788 and is followed by a group of watercolours relating to a trip to Oxford in 1796. These seven watercolours are of Merton College and show the several quads in great detail. Two watercolours of Oxford Castle and four drawings of Oxford churches, Iffley, Wolvercote and Marston are testament to an earlier visit in June 1785. Russell gives us a fine watercolour of Maids Moreton church in Buckinghamshire, along with two small watercolours of Buckingham and makes a reference to the Marquis of Buckingham, the family for whom Russell was providing portraits. In October 1785 he visited Reading and produced two charming watercolours of the town. Throughout the album there are a variety of undated watercolours attesting to the sheer number of journeys carried out by Russell during his years of fame as a portrait painter; Wingham in Kent, Jersey, Selbourne, Ewhurst in Sussex, Rochester, Dover and Yorkshire. A watercolour of Droxford church in Hampshire is undated as is a particularly attractive watercolour of St. Augustine's Monastery in Canterbury. In June and July 1786 Russell was once again in Oxford. On this occasion he ignores the university and instead depicts the various churches in the town; St. Martin's, St. Ebbes, Holywell, St. Giles before moving to what were then the village churches of Binsey, Headington, Cowley and Hinksey. Whilst Russell is renowned for his portrait work in oils and in particular in pastels these two albums cast a light on two hitherto lesser known aspects of his genius and as such are a welcome addition to our understanding of this complex and contradictory talent. 2 volumes. Folio. Containing: Volume 1 – 185 drawings on 150 pages; Volume 2 – 77 drawings on 75 pages. The images are pasted into 2 printed volumes of Public General Acts for 1753 with many printed pages removed to avoid the consequent swelling of the volumes. Both volumes full panelled calf, gilt, a little worn and hinges cracked but sound.

Product Info

Publisher: 1757 - 94.

Type: Used

Binding: Softcover

Seller Info

MichaelKempBookseller

Address: 19 Adelaide Gardens Sheeness, Kent

Website: https://michaelkemp.co.uk

Country: United Kingdom