- Myles Birkett Foster
Myles Birkett Foster was a popular watercolour artist in the
Victorian period . He was born in 1825 atNorth Shields ,England but his family moved south when he was still a child. He was schooled atHitchin ,Hertfordshire [The Times Wednesday 29th March 1899] and, at the age of 16, was apprenticed to a wood engraver, Mr Landells [The Times Wednesday 29th March 1899] , producing printing blocks for various magazines, includingPunch and theIllustrated London News . He left Mr Landells' employ to gain work as an illustrator, and it was the latter magazine for which he then went on to produce a number of illustrations. He also found work as a book illustrator and, during the 1850s, trained himself to paint inwatercolours . His illustrations of Longfellow’s "Evangeline " and books of poetry by other contemporaries were a great success [The Times Wednesday 29th March 1899] , and he quickly became a successfulartist in watercolours. Birkett Foster became an Associate of the "Old" Watercolour Society (Later theRoyal Watercolour Society ) in 1860 [ [http://victorianartinbritain.co.uk/biog/foster.htm Victorian Art in Britain ] ] and exhibited at theRoyal Academy for more than 2 decades. He travelled to mainlandEurope , painting initially in theRhine Valley andVenice . In 1863 Birkett Foster published a volume of “English Landscapes,” with text byTom Taylor The Times Wednesday 29th March 1899. The same year he moved toWitley , nearGodalming inSurrey where he had a house ("The Hill") built, which he furnished in contemporary style with tiles and paintings by his friendEdward Burne-Jones and Morris and Company [ [http://victorianartinbritain.co.uk/biog/foster.htm Victorian Art in Britain ] ] . He painted great numbers of landscape scenes from Scotland to the Mediterranean, but it was after moving to Surrey that Birkett Foster produced the works for which he is best known - a sentimentalised view of the contemporary English countryside. Although criticised for their idealised view of rural life, they were recognised for their detail and execution. He became ill in 1893 and moved toWeybridge . He continued painting, but died on 27th March 1899. His obituary inThe Times referred to him as "certainly the most popular water-colour artist of our time" [The Times Wednesday 29th March 1899] . The funeral took place at Witley.External links
* [http://victorianartinbritain.co.uk/biog/foster.htm Biography, Victorian Art in Britain]
References
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