6 results found
	BENNETT, William James (1784-1844) after J. ISABEY Monsr. J. Isabey's Exhibition Rooms, 61 Pall Mall / Salle d'Exhibition de J. Isabey, a Londres Published by J. Isabey, June, 1820. Colour-printed aquatint. Printed on wove Whatman paper watermarked 1820. In excellent condition. Image size: 7 ¼ x 9 7/8 inches. Plate mark: 8 ¼ x 10 7/8 inches. Sheet size: 13 x 18 ¾ inches. A fascinating view of J. Isabey's picture gallery in Pall Mall, London, by the celebrated American engraver William James Bennett. William James Bennett was born in England, and received his artistic training at the celebrated Royal Academy. He garnered a reputation as an accomplished watercolourist and exhibited many fine landscapes at the Academy's annual exhibitions. Bennett was one of the principle members of the Society of Painters in Watercolours and helped establish watercolour as a prominent medium in England. He displayed an exceptional talent at aquatint and during his career produced many fine prints for some the most lavish English plate books. He emigrated to the United States in 1826, and is best known for his views of American cities, including the Hudson Valley Region, Niagara Falls, and numerous port cities such as New York, Charleston, and Buffalo. Bennett's series of views of American Cities set a standard, and established a compositional formula, for topographical art in America. His views remain the most memorable and beautiful examples of the genre, and they exerted a lasting influence on generations of American artists. This beautiful image of Mr. Isabey's exhibition rooms in Pall Mall is not listed separately amongst Bennett's work, but according to DeSilva and Deak, he completed a number of aquatints in 1820, which are not recorded. It is possible that this picturesque interior scene is one of the images, which was not immediately attributed to Bennett. This charming work closely resembles images published by the leading English printseller Rudolph Ackermann, in particular an image depicting his gallery "The Repository of Arts". As in the Ackermann image, connoisseurs are shown enjoying the exhibition rooms in Isabey's gallery. This lovely image is a fascinating example of a nineteenth century exhibition; we not only see the arrangement of the hang, but also are privy to the use of the gallery by visitors. Deak, William James Bennett p. 3-26; DeSilva, William James Bennett: Painter and Engraver, p. 39-42 #14745$2,000.00
	BENNETT, William James (1787-1844) after Charles WILD (1781-1835) The King's Dressing Room, Windsor Castle London: Published by W. H. Pyne, 1816. Hand-coloured aquatint. Very good condition apart from a few light foxing marks and a small loss in the top left corner of the sheet. Plate mark: 10 1/8 x 12 1/2 inches. Sheet size: 10 5/8 x 13 inches. A beautifully coloured print from "The History of the Royal Residences...," William Henry Pyne's comprehensive collection of plates depicting the interiors of Windsor Castle, St. James's Palace, Carlton House, Kensington Palace, Hampton Court, Buckingham House, and Frogmore. Windsor Castle was built in 1075 during the reign of William the Conqueror. As pictured in this charming image, the King's Dressing Room was primarily adorned with paintings by celebrated artists such as Holbein, Rembrandt, and da Vinci. The ceiling mural depicts Jupiter and Danae, and the clock standing in the room's far right corner was designed by the royal clockmaker Vulliamy. Comprised of three volumes, Pyne's publication was an ambitious project involving several prominent engravers and draughtsman of the day including Sutherland, W. J. Bennett, R. Reeve, D. Havell and R. Cattermole. It constitutes an invaluable early nineteenth-century pictorial record of the magnificent interiors and furnishings of these palatial residences before they were significantly changed or, in the case of Carlton House, completely razed. The watercolour painter and aquatint engraver William James Bennett was born in England and received his training at the Royal Academy. He emigrated to the United States in 1826, and is best known for his views of American cities, including the Hudson Valley Region, Niagara Falls, and numerous port cities such as New York, Charleston, and Buffalo. Cf. Abbey, Scenery of Great Britain and Ireland in Aquatint and Lithography, 1770-1860 396; cf. British Coloured Books, 78; cf. Martin-Hardie, p. 91; cf. Prideaux, p. 348; cf. Tooley 389; cf. Benezit, Dictionnaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, et Graveurs, vol. 2, p. 108. #13849$300.00
	BENNETT, William James (1787-1844) after James STEPHANOFF (1788?-1874) The Saloon, Buckingham House London: Published by W. H. Pyne, 1818. Hand-coloured aquatint, heightened with touches of gum arabic. Very good condition apart from some light soiling. Plate mark: 10 x 12 3/8 inches. Sheet size: 10 1/2 x 13 inches. A beautifully coloured print from "The History of the Royal Residences...," William Henry Pyne's comprehensive collection of plates depicting the interiors of Windsor Castle, St. James's Palace, Carlton House, Kensington Palace, Hampton Court, Buckingham House, and Frogmore. Erected in 1703, Buckingham House was the residence of the Duke of Buckingham until it was purchased by George III for Queen Charlotte in 1762 and became one of the many homes of the royal family. George IV later commissioned the eminent architect John Nash to expand the building into what is now Buckingham Palace. During the reign of Queen Victoria, it became the chief London seat of the royal monarch. Comprised of three volumes, Pyne's publication was an ambitious project involving several prominent engravers and draughtsman of the day including Sutherland, W. J. Bennett, R. Reeve, D. Havell and R. Cattermole. It constitutes an invaluable early nineteenth-century pictorial record of the magnificent interiors and furnishings of these palatial residences before they were significantly changed or, in the case of Carlton House, completely razed. The watercolour painter and aquatint engraver William James Bennett was born in England and received his training at the Royal Academy. He emigrated to the United States in 1826, and is best known for his views of American cities, including the Hudson Valley Region, Niagara Falls, and numerous port cities such as New York, Charleston, and Buffalo. Cf. Abbey, Scenery of Great Britain and Ireland in Aquatint and Lithography, 1770-1860 396; cf. British Coloured Books, 78; cf. Martin-Hardie, p. 91; cf. Prideaux, p. 348; cf. Tooley 389; cf. Benezit, Dictionnaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, et Graveurs, vol. 2, p. 108. #13852$300.00
	BENNETT, William James (1787-1844) after Richard CATTERMOLE (1795-1858) The Queen's Bed Chamber, Kensington Palace London: Published by W. H. Pyne, 1818. Hand-coloured aquatint, heightened with touches of gum arabic. Very good condition apart from some light foxing and a 1 7/8" loss along the right edge of the bottom margin. Plate mark: 10 1/8 x 12 3/8 inches. Sheet size: 10 5/8 x 13 inches. A beautifully coloured print from "The History of the Royal Residences...," William Henry Pyne's comprehensive collection of plates depicting the interiors of Windsor Castle, St. James's Palace, Carlton House, Kensington Palace, Hampton Court, Buckingham House, and Frogmore. Erected in 1661 for the Earl of Nottingham, Kensington Palace became the royal residence of William III in 1689. Over the years, it underwent various renovations by architects such as Nicholas Hawksmoor and Sir Christopher Wren. Queen Victoria lived at Kensington for the duration of her childhood. Comprised of three volumes, Pyne's publication was an ambitious project involving several prominent engravers and draughtsman of the day including Sutherland, W. J. Bennett, R. Reeve, D. Havell and R. Cattermole. It constitutes an invaluable early nineteenth-century pictorial record of the magnificent interiors and furnishings of these palatial residences before they were significantly changed or, in the case of Carlton House, completely razed. The watercolour painter and aquatint engraver William James Bennett was born in England and received his training at the Royal Academy. He emigrated to the United States in 1826, and is best known for his views of American cities, including the Hudson Valley Region, Niagara Falls, and numerous port cities such as New York, Charleston, and Buffalo. Cf. Abbey, Scenery of Great Britain and Ireland in Aquatint and Lithography, 1770-1860 396; cf. British Coloured Books, 78; cf. Martin-Hardie, p. 91; cf. Prideaux, p. 348; cf. Tooley 389; cf. Benezit, Dictionnaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs, et Graveurs, vol. 2, p. 108. #13850$300.00
	BENNETT, William James (c.1784-1844) View of the Ruins after the Great Fire in New York, Dec. 16th & 17th, 1835 as seen from Exchange Place. New York: Lewis P. Clover, 1836. Aquatint in colours, after Nicolino Calyo (1779-1884), with extensive additional hand-colouring in watercolour and gouache, with the hand-scribed borderline in black ink, characteristic of early printings. Sheet size: 19 ¼ x 25 5/8 inches. The ruin on the left is the Old Garden Street Church; this aquatint "is the only contemporary representation that we have of this church, as rebuilt in 1807" (Stokes, Iconography..., page 618). Nicolino Calyo, an Italian portrait and miniature artist immigrated from Italy in 1834. An eyewitness to the Great Fire of 1835, he sketched the catastrophe as it unfolded throughout the day and night. He later painted a number of compositions based on these sketches in gouache, and some of these were used by Bennett to create his aquatint engravings of the fire and its aftermath. William James Bennett was born and studied in England, exhibiting romantic landscape subjects there between 1808 and 1825. In 1826 he moved to New York City. As well as engraving the compositions of other artists, including important works for John W. Hill, Bennett produced original aquatints after his own designs. Bennett's series of views of American Cities set a standard, and established a compositional formula for topographical art in America for succeeding generations of artists in all media; they remain the most memorable and beautiful examples of the genre. Lewis P. Clover, the publisher, demonstrated impressive imagination and ingenuity in the copy for his advertisement promoting these views of the Great Fire: "These beautiful ruins," he wrote, "are fast disappearing, and in a few months no vestige of them will be left: in a few years, they will linger as a dream in the memory of the present generation, and the recollection of the most disastrous fire that ever befell this city will, like all earthly things, pass into oblivion." Stokes, Iconography of Manhattan Island, page 617, illustrated plate 114b; NY Public Library, The Eno Collection of New York City Views, page 27; Collection of Percy R. Pyne II: a Catalogue of Engraved Views plans & c of New York City, number 165 (describes this state as from the "excessively scarce first issue"); Stauffer 141; Déak, William James Bennett, number 32. #3504$4,500.00
	BENNETT, William James (c.1784-1844) West Point, from above Washington Valley looking down the River New York: Parker & Clover, 1834. Hand-coloured aquatint after George Cooke. In good condition, but laid onto thin wove paper. Sheet size: 20 1/8 x 27 1/16 inches. First state of this spectacular image of the Hudson and West Point: focusing 'on the beauty of the Hudson River and the mountains that border it on either side ... a celebration of nature, highlighting the ever-changing drama staged by mountains, water, and sky' (Deak) William James Bennett (c. 1787-1844) was born in England and received his training at the Royal Academy. He emigrated to the United States in 1826, and is best known for his views of American cities, including the Hudson Valley Region, Niagara Falls, and numerous port cities such as New York, Charleston, and Buffalo. With the arrival of William Bennett and several other émigré artists such as William Guy Wall, and John Hill, the quality of aquatint engraving in America was elevated to a level equaling, or perhaps even surpassing, that of European printmakers. This print was published at the beginning of an important period in the history of American topographical-view making. 'Bennett etched four prints after paintings by George Cooke (1793-1849) in his series of views of American cities ... American-born George Cooke was a prolific painter of portraits, views, and historical subjects. He painted this scene of West Point in 1832 after he had left New York ... for .. the Catskill mountains' (Deak William James Bennett p.78). 'Cooke benefited from the remarkable craftsmanship of ... Bennett, who endowed the rendering with a radiant quality' (Deak Picturing America p.277). R.A. De Silva William James Bennett Painter and Engraver 1970 pp.68-70; Deak William James Bennett Master of the Aquatint View New York, 1988, checklist number 22; Deak Picturing America 412; Stauffer 151 #18213$16,000.00
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