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19th-Century Fashion Advertising, Our Styles For The Present Season, Lithograph

c. 1880

This late 19th-century gouache by British artist Joseph Knight (1837-1909) depicts a gentle moorland landscape with cattle. Knight was primarily known for his naturalistic depictions of North Wales. Raised amid the hurried industrious streets of Chorlton-Upon-Medlock in Manchester, Knight was obliged to pursue a career at one of its many cotton mills. His father, also Joseph Knight, was a mill engineer and would’ve expected his son to follow suit. It appears he was sent to work at the age of four - unthinkable today, but not uncommon in the 1840s. In around 1841, Knight was involved in an accident, which resulted in the loss of his right arm. This probably coincided with him being sent, together with his siblings, to stay with relatives, Thomas and Jane Knight, also of Chorlton. Evidently, following this, he undertook a change of direction, taking the first steps on a path to artistry. During the mid to late 19th century, landscape paintings grew in popularity partly due to the desires of a new middle-class buyer but also as a tonic for increasing urbanisation. And perhaps there’s no better example of an artist who understood the restorative qualities of nature than Joseph Knight. In his early teens, he gained employment at a photography studio, primarily assisting with portraiture. With a keen eye for composition, his skills flourished and were met with much approval from staff and customers alike. It was here that he first met with Mr. Henry Crowley who was so taken by the boy’s aptitude that he encouraged him to seek a career as a painter. Crowley funded his education, enrolling him at the Manchester Academy of Fine Arts, where the emphasis was on honing one’s draughtsmanship in a strict environment via diligent study and life drawing. With his technique now evolved, commissions were forthcoming - both as a painter and photographer. In the 1861 census, now married, he records his occupation as ‘Photographic artist and painter in oil’. It’s plausible that he was involved in adding tints to photographic portraits during this period while also working as a painter. As recognition of his development, in 1868, he was elected as a full member of the Manchester Academy of Fine Arts, and a year later debuted at London’s Royal Academy with ‘Evening, Near Quimper, Brittany’ and ‘Breton Peasants’. It was around this time that he came to the attention of several of his younger contemporaries who viewed his naturalistic approach as altogether fresher and entirely modern. In a quiet rebellion against their formulaic training, they undertook to paint directly from nature, ‘en plein air’, without the rigour of academic constraints. The group, which included Joshua Anderson Hague...

This charming mid-19th-century watercolour by British artist Thomas Sidney Cooper RA (1803-1902) depicts two sheep and a cow in a landscape. Cooper was a distinguished British painte...

This charming early 20th-century watercolour by eminent British artist William Kay Blacklock ARCA (1872-1924) depicts an elderly lady carrying a basket and parasol before a farmhouse...

This fine late 20th-century watercolour by British artist Edward A Swan (b.1935) depicts two sailboats buffeted by turbulent conditions. Beyond, the hazy form of a frigate under full...

A well-colored Victorian portrait of the woman whose ghost is known to haunt the Bank of England and Threadneedle Street. Lithograph with hand-coloring in watercolor, 9 x 6 1/2 inch...

English School, 19th century The Sunday Before Confirmation; Parson: What did your godfathers & godmothers then for you? Boy: Nothing sir, rot'em for I never had none. London: Thoma...

An iconic image satirizing the Prime Minister at the 1832 London Conference. The Cat's Paw (Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, Prince de Benevento & Henry John Temple...

London: Charles Joseph Hullmandel, 1842. Lithograph with hand coloring in watercolor on cream wove paper, 17 5/16 x 12 3/16 inches (440 x 309 mm), full margins. Scattered foxing thro...