Grosvenor Prints

Although the acclaimed exhibition Constable, Gainsborough, Turner and the Marking of Landscape at the Royal Academy of Arts has now finished, we have uncovered more prints relating to the exhibition since our first landscape post a few weeks back:    This engraving after Gaspar Dughet featured in the RA exhibition: The Fisherman. In the Gallery at Houghton. Gaspar Poussin pinxit. Joseph Farington delin. J. Mason Sculpsit. Published May 1st, 1777 by John Boydell engraver, No. 90. Cheapside, London. Engraving with large margins. Platemark: 480 x 390mm. (18¾ x 15¼"). Crease, bottom right, outside platemark; excellent impression. [Ref: 28368]   £220 although this print from the same series did not (both reproduce paintings then in the Walpole collection at Houghton): The Sportsman. In the Gallery at Houghton. Gaspar Poussin Pinxit. Joseph Farington delin.t John Browne Sculpsit. Published Nov.r 1.st 1775 by John Boydell Engrave...

Today sees the opening of the National Gallery's exhibition Barocci: Brilliance and Grace , celebrating the work of Urbino artist Federico Barocci (c.1533-1612). The following print, a 1649 reissue of a print engraved during Barocci's own lifetime, reproduces Barocci's painting of The Calling of St Peter and St Andrew (Brussels, Musée des Beaux-Arts) :  [The Calling of Peter and Andrew] Serenissimo Illustrissimo Principi Francisco Mariae de Ruvere Urbino Duci VI, Justiciae ac pietatis cultori integerrimo, bonarumq artium admiratori, mecaenati fuo Antonius Carensanus humilli D.D. 1590  Federicus Baroc. Urb. inventor. Adrian Collaert Sculpsit. alla Pace Gio: Iacomo de Rossi formis Romae 1649. Engraving, sheet 435 x 310mm (17 x 12¼"). Trimmed to plate; creasing. [Ref: 27284]   £230

With two exhibitions dedicated to Bartolomé Esteban Murillo taking place simultaneously in London (at Dulwich Picture Gallery and the Wallace Collection ), we have put together a list of prints based on the paintings of the Seville-based artist. Murillo's paintings were highly regarded Britain in the 18th century, hence the number of fine engravings made from them. Examples of his religious paintings in Britain and the time are this Holy Family :   The Holy Family  Thomas Chambars after Murillo  Published by Boydell, 1764  platemark 515 x 390mm  £140 + VAT  At least two of Murillo's paintings were in the famous Walpole collection at Houghton, which was the subject of an ambitious series of engravings published by Boydell before the collection was sold to Catherine the Great. Most of the collection can still be seen at the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, including a painting described by some as the The Immaculate Conception and other...

To show just how colourful antique prints can be, we've put together a selection which have been printed in colour. We recently showed examples of John Baptist Jackson's work in an earlier post , however he is included here again as his prints of the early 18th century, with different blocks used for printing different colours 'may be regarded as the first genuine ones printed in colours that were ever produced for public circulation by an English artist' (Burch): The Death of St. Peter Martyr John Baptist Jackson after Titian £420 Different colour plates were used for a series of large engravings of the Westminster Tapestries showing the Spanish Armada. We have three of the series, engraved by Robert Pine, which contrast the scene (printed in dark blue ink) with the decorative surround (printed from a separate plate in black): [The Spanish Armada Tapestries - The Spanish anchored at Calais.] VIII. C. Lempriere delin. J. Pine Sculp. Publi...

During the 18th and early 19th century London received visitors from all over the world who were immortalised in paintings and prints. Some came willingly, others less so. Some performed important diplomatic duties while others were exhibited to feed the public's thirst for novelty. Sometimes both functions were served simultaneously. The following selection of prints demonstrates both the diversity of overseas visitors during this period, and the range of artists and methods involved in portraying them. In 1709 the Portuguese ambassador Joaõ Gomes da Silva, Count of Tarouca (1671-1738) resided in London, and was painted by England's pre-eminent portrait painter of the period, Godfrey Kneller. Joaõ Gomes da Silva, Conde de Tarouca. G.Kneller S.R Imp. & Angl. Eques Aur. pinx. I. Simon Fecit. [n.d., c.1715.] Rare mezzotint. 340 x 250mm, 13¼ x 9¾". Trimmed to image, laid on album paper, some suface wear. CS: 149, state ii of iii. [Ref: 1...