Samuel Prout - Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna O Waiwhetu

Prout’s subject is the Cathedral of St Peter at Ratisbon, orRe gensburg as it is known today. Re gensburg stands on theDanube River in Upper Bava ria. This arc hitectural compositionis treated in a grand scale, filled with devotional figures, andrevealing the busy life of the Bava rian city beyond.I t i s a n e x a m p l e o f P r o u t ’s w o r k a s a d ra u g h t s m a n ofp i c t u r e s q u e a rc h i t e c t u r e . H e h a s e m p h a s i s e d t h e h e i g h t oft h e c a t h e d ra l p o rc h a n d p a c k e d t h e l o w e r s p a c e s w i t h ac r o w d o f c o l o u r f u l w o rs h i p p e r s a n d h aw k e rs w h o l o o k v e r ys m a l l i n c o m p a r i s o n t o t h e re a r i n g s c u l p t u ra l f i g u re s o f t h es a i n t s a n d a p o s t l e s .P r o u t wa s o f t e n c ri t i c i s e d f o r t h e l i c e n c e h e t o o k w i t ha c c u ra c y a n d fo r p a c k i n g h i s c o m p o s i t i o n s w i t h g r o u p s o fp e a s a n t s i n b r i g h t c o s t u m e s . H o w e v e r, h e wa s r e s p o n s i b l e f o rb r i n gi n g i n t o p ro m i n e n c e t h e m o r e p i c t u re s q u e a s p e c t s o fb u i l d i n g i n E u r o p e . H i s m a x i m wa s “ S a c ri f i c e s m a l l t h i n g s t og re a t , a n d m a t t e r o f fa c t t o t h e r e n d e ri n g o f t h e i d e a ”.( ‘Re m i n i s c e n c e s o f a n O l d P a i n t e r : S a mu e l P ro u t ’, W.T h e o b l i q u e s h a f t of s u n l i g h t , wh i c h b a l a n c e s t h e v e r t i c a lplanes in the composition, picks out the details of the stonetracery and enhances the finely detailed drawing of thea rc h i t e c t u ra l sculpture.www.c hristc hurchar tgallery.org .nz PhoneB r i t i s h p a i n t i n g s o f t h i s t y p e w e r e i n f l u e n c e d b y t h e D u t c ha r c h i t e c t u r a l w a t e r c o l o u r i s t s l i k e P i e t e r S a e n r e d a m ( 1 5 9 7 -1 6 6 5 ) , a n d b y t h e t r a d i t i o n o f t h e a r c h i t e c t u r a l a n dl a n d s c a p e s t u d i e s p u r c h a s e d o n t h e 1 8 t h c e n t u r y G r a n dTo u r s o f E u r o p e .I t w a s P r o u t ’s p r a c t i c e t o m a k e s t u d i e s a n d s k e t c h e s o nt h e s p o t a n d t h e n w o r k t h e m u p i n t o a f i n i s h e d p a i n t i n gi n h i s s t u d i o . I n h i s f i n i s h e d d r a w i n g s h e t r a c e d o v e r h i sp e n c i l s t u d i e s w i t h a r e e d p e n t o o u t l i n e t h e c o m p o s i t i o n sb e f o r e s h a d i n g a n d p a i n t i n g t h e m . J o h n R u s k i n , a n a d m i r e ro f P r o u t ’s a r t s a i d ; “ T h e r e e d p e n o u t l i n e a n d p e c u l i a rt o u c h o f P r o u t a r e t h e o n l y m e a n s o f e x p r e s s i n g t h ec r u m b l i n g c h a r a c t e r o f s t o n e ”. T h i s t e c h n i q u e c a n b e s e e ni n t h e f o r e g r o u n d o f Then t h e w e s t fa c a d e .A s P r o u t s e l d o m d a t e d a p a i n t i n g a n d h i s w o r k wa s o f as t e a d y u n i f o r m t y p e , t h e p r e c i s e d a t e o f m o s t o f h i sw a t e r c o l o u r s i s d i f f i c u l t t o d e t e r m i n e . T h i s w o r k h a s t h ep a i n t e r l y m a n n e r i s m s o f h i s p o s t - 1 8 2 0 p e r i o d w i t h i t s u s eo f l i m i t e d c o l o u r a p a r t f r o m b r i g h t e r t o u c h e s o n t h ec o s t u m e s o f t h e h u m a n f i g u r e s .The images on this page are protected by copyright and must not be reproducedwithout the written permission of Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu.Samuel ProutBritish, 1783 -1852Worcester Boulevard, PO Box 2626, Christchurch, New Zealand(03) 941 7300The Cathedral of St Peter, RegensburgPorch on the West Facadec.1823, watercolour, 70.2x52.5 cmHeathcote Helmore Bequest, 1965About the workPorch oCathedral of St Peter, RegensburgCo l l i n g w o o d , Magazine of Art, 1 8 9 8 , p . 5 8 9 )

Born in Plymouth in 1783, Prout turned to painting at an earlya ge a s h e s u ffe re d l i fe - l o n g i l l h e a lt h , wh i c h pre v e n t e d h i mfrom taking up a more active career. In 1801 he wa semployed to make drawings for John Britton’s publicationbegan exhibiting at the Roya lAcademy in 1803 and joined the Ass ociated Ar tists inWatercolours in 1810.In 1819 he became a member of the Old Water-ColourSociety and in that same year made his first trip abroad toNor thern France. It was at this time he developed the stylethat he continued to use till his death. In 1821 he touredthrough Bel gium and along the Rhine, and in 1824 he visitedItaly. He later travelled through Germany and Switz erland. Hedied in London in 1852.Prout is best known for his paintings of grand architecturalcompositions, par ticularly the cathedrals of Eur ope, of whic hthis is a good example. It was shown at the ‘InternationalExhibition’ in Glasgow in 1901. A similar version of the samecomposition exists in the Victoria and Alber t Museum, London.His style of drawing was suited to lithographic reproduction andhis publications of lithographic prints w ere highly successful andH e wa s w e l l - r e ga rd e d a s a n a r t i s t a n d t e a c h e r i n h i s l i fe t i m eanda n d h e wa s c h a m p i o n e d b y Jo h n R u s k i n w h o h a d n o t h i n g b u tp ra i s e fo r h i m . “ We o w e P ro u t , I b e l i e v e , t h e f i rs t p e rc e p t i o n ,a n d c e r t a i n ly t h e o n l y e x i s t i n g e x p r e s s i o n , o f p re c i s e l y t h ec h a ra c t e rs w h i c h w e re wa n t i n g t o o l d a r t ; o f t h a t f e e l i n gw h i c h re s u l t s f ro m t h e i n f l u e n c e , a m o n g t h e n o b l e l i n e s o fa rc h i t e c t u r e , o f t h e r e n t a n d t h e ru s t , t h e f i s s u re , t h e l i c h e n1 9 0 6 , p . 3 1 )www.c hristc hurchar tgallery.org .nz PhoneThere are no other w orks by the ar tist in the CollectionThe images on this page are protected by copyright and must not be reproducedwithout the written permission of Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu.Samuel ProutBritish, 1783 -1852Worcester Boulevard, PO Box 2626, Christchurch, New Zealand(03) 941 7300About the artistOther works by the artist in the CollectionBeauties of England and Wales. HeFurther reading‘Reminiscences of an Old Painter: Samuel Prout’, W. Collingwood,Magazine of Ar t, 1898.‘Sketches by Samuel Prout in France, Belgium, Germany, Italy andSwitzerland’, E.G. Halton, T h e St u d i o, Special Series, London, 1915.very popular. These include Illustrations of the Rhine (1824),Facsimiles of Sketches made in Flanders and Germany (1833),Sketches in France, Switzerland and Italy (1839).a n d t h e w e e d …” (Modern Painters Vol. 1, J o h n R u s k i n , D e n t ,