Английская Википедия:Alfred Priest

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Alfred Priest (12 December 1810Шаблон:Snd9 December 1850) was an English painter of landscapes and marine artist, and a member of the Norwich School of painters. Born in Norwich, he was educated to follow his father in becoming a pharmacist, but he left home to work at sea, before briefly working as an apprentice surgeon.

With his family’s support, Priest then studied art in London, and was taught by James Stark and Edward William Cooke. He specialized in marine painting and rural scenes of his native Norfolk, and exhibited at the Society of British Artists and the Royal Academy. He died in Norwich of tuberculosis at the age of 39, two years after ill health forced him to return home from London.

Priest's etchings, of which around 60 are known, are in the British Museum; many of his paintings are held in the Norfolk Museums Collections. He is considered to have produced seascapes that have an authenticity not evident in all of his landscapes; his etchings, though of variable quality, are considered by modern art critics to be charming.

Early years

etching a the artist's family business premises

An etching by Priest of the chemist's shop on London Street, Norwich, run by his father (undated), British Museum

Alfred Priest was born in the English city of Norwich on 12 December 1810, the son of John Fox Priest and his wife Elizabeth Neal (née Raven). He was baptised at St Gregory's Church, Norwich two days later. He had at least one artistic sibling, Mary, who outlived her brother by three decades.Шаблон:Sfn

John Priest was a chemist, who ensured his son was educated well enough for the boy to follow in his father's profession.Шаблон:Sfn Following his education, and acting against his father's wishes, Priest left home. He returned to Norwich after a period at sea and then briefly worked as an apprentice to a surgeon in the Norfolk town of Downham Market.Шаблон:Sfn

Priest became interested in becoming an artist, and studied etching under Henry Ninham for two years.Шаблон:Sfn His first known original engraving was Sketch of the opening the Harbour at Lowestoft on the 9th of August 1831.Шаблон:Sfn He was one of several of the Norwich School artists who produced the occasional lithograph.Шаблон:Sfn

Career in London

Priest was living in London by 1833, when he was residing at 14, Crawford Row, Chelsea.Шаблон:Sfn With the support of his father,Шаблон:Sfn Priest was a pupil of James Stark (when Stark was living in Chelsea),Шаблон:Sfn and Edward William Cooke, who became a close friend.Шаблон:Sfn Priest specialised in marine painting and is noted for his depictions of water and waves.Шаблон:Sfn By 1834 he was working as a portraitist.Шаблон:Sfn In 1835 he married, and moved to 34, Pembroke Square, Kensington.Шаблон:Sfn

Priest exhibited at the Society of British Artists in 1837 and 1838.Шаблон:Sfn His pictures were shown for the first time at the Royal Academy in 1833. He exhibited a total of 89 works between 1833 and 1847.Шаблон:Sfn He painted river scenes so as to demonstrate his ability to depict flowing water. The works he exhibited were Scene at Taverham, Norfolk, Water Mill, Maple Durham, near Reading and Iffley Mill, near Oxford.Шаблон:Sfn His choice of subject matter in his oil paintings and watercolours was shared with his close friend Miles Edmund Cotman, who visited him in Reading, and it seems that the artists worked closely together for a period.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn During the 1840s their styles diverged, with Priest working less meticulously than his colleague.Шаблон:Sfn Priest is mentioned in the correspondence of the Cotman family and the artist Edward Thomas Daniell.Шаблон:Sfn

Although Priest spent most of his adult life in London, most of his paintings and etchings, which were produced there, are of Norfolk scenes.Шаблон:Sfn

Return to Norfolk

Файл:Beach Scene 1849 - Alfred Priest.jpg

Beach Scene 1849, Norfolk Museums Collections

Ill health forced Priest to return to Norfolk in 1848,Шаблон:Sfn and he spent much of the following year living on the coast.Шаблон:Sfn He died in Norwich of tuberculosis on 9 December 1850, aged 39.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Refn He was buried in the churchyard at Cringleford, outside Norwich.Шаблон:Sfn

According to the art historian William Dickes, writing in 1905, Priest "too often yielded to the sad art of fortifying himself with brandy". Priest was noted by Dickes for his fondness for children and animals, and produced a children's book, The Hare and Three Leverets, in 1848.Шаблон:Sfn

Reputation and legacy

Priest, along with Robert Leman, Thomas Lound, Henry Bright and John Middleton, is considered by the art historian Andrew Moore to be one of the outstanding artists of the final phase of the Norwich School during the middle of the 19th century.Шаблон:Sfn Walpole notes that Priest was "talented to the point of facility". She considers his best works to be his seascapes, which have an authenticity lacking in some of his landscapes. that may be because of his ability to depict transparent effects. Walpole notes that Priest's landscapes make good use of warm ochres, greens and browns, but that his later paintings can be dull-looking.Шаблон:Sfn

Around sixty etchings by Priest are known.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn The British Museum hold proofs of what are probably a complete collection of Priest's etchings,Шаблон:Sfn which are small and of every find of subject. He also produced a few mezzotints.Шаблон:Sfn The art historian Josephine Walpole describes his work as "extremely competent".Шаблон:Sfn

Gallery

Paintings

• oil painting of a rural scene in Oxford

  Iffley Mill, Oxford (1844), Norfolk Museums Collections

• watercolour beach scene by Priest

  The Sands at Rye (1849), Norfolk Museums Collections

• Norwich perspective painting by Priest

  Norwich from the South East (1849), Norfolk Museums Collections

• rural scene by Priest

  Thorpe River, Norwich (undated), Norfolk Museums Collections

• oil painting of beech trees

  Beech trees, grazing cattle to right (undated), Norfolk Museums Collections

• oil painting of cattle and old bridge

  Godstowe Bridge, Oxford 1844, Norfolk Museums Collections

Etchings

• etching of buildings in Norwich

  Front of New Mills, Norwich (undated), British Museum

• etching of trees

  View with cottages behind tree (undated), British Museum

• Coastal view (1830), British Museum

  Coastal view (1830), British Museum

Bibliography

• Шаблон:Cite book
• Шаблон:Cite book
• Шаблон:Cite book
• Шаблон:Cite book
• Шаблон:Cite book

External links

• Works by Priest in the Norfolk Museums Collections
• Works by Priest at Art UK
• Works by Priest at the British Museum
• The Hare and Three Leverets, a children's poem by Priest (from Google Books)