Att. John Burgess A.O.W.S. (1814-1874) - Houses in the Grand Palace, Brussels
John Burgess was the son of John Cart Burgess (1788-1863) who was an artist himself and a member of the New Watercolour Society. His son became an accomplished artist in his own right and 'around 1833 he went to Italy via Normany and Paris, and stayed there until 1837. At this period he was attempting to become a figure painter, but soon turned to landscape, where his true talent lay. On his return he made sketching tours in Devon, Surrey and the Thames Valley, and in 1840 settled in Leamington, buying the teaching practice of the widow of D. Dighton'. In 1851 he was elected A.O.W.S. He is at his best when using a pencil, and his architectural sketches made on the spot have been favourably compared to those of Samuel Prout and Henry Edridge'. [1]
Our work is a very accomplished architectural sketch and the comparisons with Prout are obvious. There are various watercolours by Burgess of scenes from Belgium which help support this attribution. A watercolour by the artist titled 'Off to the Market, Bruges' was sold at Christie's on 29th November 2006 as lot 1238. This has strong similarities to our work, and is also only inscribed with a title and not signed. We are purely attributing it to Burgess because of the small annotation on the label verso, however, we are confident that it is by the artist himself.
Medium: watercolour and pencil on paper with white bodycolour, inscribed l.l. 'Houses in the Grand Palace, Brussels Augst 24th 1846', 33 x 24 cm, framed.
Provenance: Thomas Agnew & Sons, collection number 48174 (see labels verso); Label verso furthermore suggests this work was exhibited in 1846 as number 68 at presumedly the Old Watercolour Society.
Bibliography:
[1] Huon Mallalieu, 'The Dictionary of British Watercolour Artists up to 1920: Volume 1 A-L', Antique Collectors' Club: England, 2002, p. 131.
Condition report: generally very good condition with some time staining and small foxing marks. The frame has a few marks (please see photos for an example).