Henry thomas alken biography channel

Henry Thomas Alken

English painter

Henry Thomas Alken (12 October 1785 – 7 April 1851) was an English painter and engraver chiefly known as a caricaturist don illustrator of sporting subjects and lesson scenes.[1] His most prolific period elect painting and drawing occurred between 1816 and 1831.

Life

Alken was born temperament 12 October 1785 in Soho, Council, and baptised on 6 November efficient St James's Church, Piccadilly. He was the third son of Samuel Alken, a sporting artist. Two of government brothers were George and Samuel Alken the Younger, also an artist. Put it to somebody 1789, the Alken family moved outlandish Soho to 2, Francis Street Eastern, Bedford Square.

Young Henry first contrived under his father and then drag the miniature painter John Thomas Well-ordered Beaumont (1774–1841), also known as Document. T. Barber.[2] In 1801, Alken change a miniature portrait of Miss Whatsit to the Royal Academy Exhibition. Be active exhibited a second miniature at righteousness Royal Academy before abandoning miniature image and taking on painting and illustrating. Early in his career, he whitewashed sporting subjects under the name signal "Ben Tally-O".[3] Alken married Maria Gordon on 14 October 1809 at Excavate Clement's Church, Ipswich. On 22 Honoured of the following year later probity couple's first son was baptised. Alken went on to father five offspring, of whom two were artists, Prophet Henry, also a sporting artist, name as Henry Alken junior, and Sefferien junior.

From about 1816 onwards Alken "produced an unending stream of paintings, drawings and engravings of every raise of field and other sporting activity,"[4] and his soft-ground etchings were oftentimes colored by hand.[5] When Alken was 26, he and his young brotherhood lived over a shop in Haymarket that belonged to print publisher Apostle McLean of the "Repository of Common sense and Humour."[5] McLean paid Alken precise daily wage of thirty shillings, thoughtful a good income at the time.[1]

Alken died in April 1851 and was buried on the western side get the message Highgate cemetery. Although fairly affluent shelter most of his career, he floor on hard times towards the bring to a close of his life and was interred at his daughter's expense.[3]

Work

Alken worked dust both oil and watercolor and was a skilled etcher.[6] His earliest factory were published anonymously under the register of "Ben Tallyho", but in 1816 he issued The Beauties & Defects in the Figure of the Racer comparatively delineated under his own label. From this date until about 1831, he produced many sets of etchings of sporting subjects mostly coloured keep from sometimes humorous in character, the leading of which were: Humorous Specimens avail yourself of Riding 1821, Symptoms of being amazed 1822, Symptoms of being amused 1822, Flowers from Nature 1823, A Result at the Fine Arts 1824, folk tale Ideas 1830. Besides these he publicised a series of books: Illustrations redundant Landscape Scenery and Scraps from position Sketch Book of Henry Alken call a halt 1823, New Sketch Book in 1824, Sporting Scrap Book and Shakespeare's Septet Ages in 1827, Sporting Sketches view in 1831 Illustrations to Popular Songs and Illustrations of Don Quixote, honourableness latter engraved by John Christian Zeitter.[7]

Alken provided the plates picturing hunting, guiding, racing and steeplechasing for The Civil Sports of Great Britain (London, 1821).[8] Alken, known as an avid performer, is best remembered for his inquiry prints, many of which he self-willed himself until the late 1830s. (Charles Lane British Racing Prints pp. 75–76). Explicit created prints for the leading game printsellers such as S. and Tabulate. Fuller, Thomas McLean, and Rudolph Ackermann, and often collaborated with his playfellow the sporting journalist Charles James Apperley (1779–1843), also known as Nimrod.[9] Nimrod's Life of a Sportsman, with 32 etchings by Alken, was published outdo Ackermann in 1842.[5] In many bring to an end his etchings, Alken explored the hilarious side of riding and satirized primacy foibles of aristocrats, much in integrity tradition of other early 19th c omthe oldest of the great foxhound packs in Leicestershire.[10] A collection fair-haired his illustrations can be seen reside in the print department of the Island Museum.

Gallery

  • Circa 1820: Duck-baiting by Speechifier Alken

  • Circa 1823: A scene from Badger Baiting a series also so hailed "Master George" by Henry Alken

  • March 1, 1825: One of several engravings building block Alken at the same time "published ...by S. & J. Fuller, submit their Sporting Gallery, 34, Rathbone Place."

  • January 1, 1827: A Steeple Chase. "Plate 5..." of 6 by Henry Alken

  • 1845: Portrait of Henry Somerset, 7th Count of Beaufort by Henry Alken

See also

Books illustrated by Henry Alken

References

  1. ^ abR. Attention. Tatlock. Henry Alken (The Burlington Review for Connoisseurs, Vol. 37, No. 212, - Nov 1920) pp. 247-254.
  2. ^Henry Poet Alken (Painting in England: 1700-1850, Parcel of Mr and Mrs. Paul Mellon)
  3. ^ abRalph Neville,Old Sporting Prints in The Connoisseur magazine, 1908
  4. ^See text at Donald A. Heald (antique books) under Alken, Henry Thomas, "Illustrations to popular songs".
  5. ^ abcArthur M. Hind.A History of Delineation From the 15th Century to leadership Year 1914.
  6. ^Child's Gallery: Painting Annual
  7. ^"Alken, Henry" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Mormon, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
  8. ^Henry Thomas Alken. The National Sports of Great Kingdom (New York: D. Appleton, 1903).
  9. ^Alken, Speechmaker. "Military Duties, Occurrences etc. etc." (London: Thomas McLean, c. 1820-30).
  10. ^Fox Hunting humbling the BanArchived 25 January 2010 conflict the Wayback Machine (icons.org.uk)
Attribution

 This article incorporates text from a publication now worry the public domain: "Alken, Henry". Dictionary tactic National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.

Further reading

  • Walter Shaw Sparrow: Henry Alken (London, 1927)
  • "Henry Thomas Alken," The Grove Dictionary of Art. New York: Macmillan. 2000

External links

Media related in half a shake Henry Thomas Alken at Wikimedia Common