DOI article:
Baldry, A. L.: The members of the society
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.27085#0042
THE MEMBERS OF THE SOCIETY
which had been well begun. The first of these newcomers were
John Linnell, subsequently a famous painter of romantic landscape,
who was then barely twenty-one ; James Holmes, who made a
specialty of humorous rustics and miniature portraits ; and Miss
Harriet Gouldsmith, who treated landscape with some success ; and
before the 1813 exhibition opened, the names of Henry Richter, a
painter of domestic subjects, and Frederick Mackenzie, an archi-
tectural draughtsman who chose chiefly church interiors as motives
for his drawings, were enrolled. A few months later came the
election of George Fennel Robson, a young artist of five and twenty,
who was destined to achieve distinction by his landscape drawings,
and especially by his romantic studies of mountain scenery ; and in
this year also there appears for the first time in the records of the
Society the name of Henry C. Allport, a sufficiently capable painter,
about whose career little, however, is known.
No other elections took place until 1819, when Samuel Prout and
James Stephanoff were made members. Prout, who was then a man
of thirty-six, had not yet turned to the particular type of work by
which he afterwards became famous. He was, however, well
known as a very skilful topographical draughtsman, and he had pro-
duced a large number of etched views, some from his own drawings
and some from those of other artists. He had commenced con-
tributing to the exhibitions of the Society in 1815, and began then
a connection with it which continued uninterruptedly till his death
nearly forty years later. Stephanoff, who was about five years
younger than Prout, remained a member till 1861, when he resigned.
He was not, perhaps, a painter of the highest rank, but he treated
figure subjects, mostly taken from romantic fiction, plays, and poems,
with undeniable vigour and much facility. He painted a few in-
cidents, as well, from the life of his own times.
After the second reconstruction of the Society in 1820 there was
an immediate increase in the number of artists who were admitted
to membership. There were gaps in the ranks to fill because some
men had signified by resignation their disapproval of the further
change of policy decided upon by the majority ; and there were
additions necessary to bring the association up to a sufficient working
strength to enable it to continue its activity without the assistance of
outside contributors. The first of the new comers were William James
Bennett, James Duffield Harding, and William Walker, who joined
as Associates in June 1820. Bennett, a landscape painter of passable
capacity, must not be confounded with the other William Bennett,
who was a pupil of David Cox, and from 1848 onwards a member
m xxx
which had been well begun. The first of these newcomers were
John Linnell, subsequently a famous painter of romantic landscape,
who was then barely twenty-one ; James Holmes, who made a
specialty of humorous rustics and miniature portraits ; and Miss
Harriet Gouldsmith, who treated landscape with some success ; and
before the 1813 exhibition opened, the names of Henry Richter, a
painter of domestic subjects, and Frederick Mackenzie, an archi-
tectural draughtsman who chose chiefly church interiors as motives
for his drawings, were enrolled. A few months later came the
election of George Fennel Robson, a young artist of five and twenty,
who was destined to achieve distinction by his landscape drawings,
and especially by his romantic studies of mountain scenery ; and in
this year also there appears for the first time in the records of the
Society the name of Henry C. Allport, a sufficiently capable painter,
about whose career little, however, is known.
No other elections took place until 1819, when Samuel Prout and
James Stephanoff were made members. Prout, who was then a man
of thirty-six, had not yet turned to the particular type of work by
which he afterwards became famous. He was, however, well
known as a very skilful topographical draughtsman, and he had pro-
duced a large number of etched views, some from his own drawings
and some from those of other artists. He had commenced con-
tributing to the exhibitions of the Society in 1815, and began then
a connection with it which continued uninterruptedly till his death
nearly forty years later. Stephanoff, who was about five years
younger than Prout, remained a member till 1861, when he resigned.
He was not, perhaps, a painter of the highest rank, but he treated
figure subjects, mostly taken from romantic fiction, plays, and poems,
with undeniable vigour and much facility. He painted a few in-
cidents, as well, from the life of his own times.
After the second reconstruction of the Society in 1820 there was
an immediate increase in the number of artists who were admitted
to membership. There were gaps in the ranks to fill because some
men had signified by resignation their disapproval of the further
change of policy decided upon by the majority ; and there were
additions necessary to bring the association up to a sufficient working
strength to enable it to continue its activity without the assistance of
outside contributors. The first of the new comers were William James
Bennett, James Duffield Harding, and William Walker, who joined
as Associates in June 1820. Bennett, a landscape painter of passable
capacity, must not be confounded with the other William Bennett,
who was a pupil of David Cox, and from 1848 onwards a member
m xxx