Abraham Pether (1756 – 13 April 1812) was an English landscape painter, recognised for his skill in depicting moonlit scenes. He was also a talented musician, inventor, mathematician and philosopher.
Life and work
Abraham was born in
Chichester
Chichester () is a cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only ci ...
in
Sussex
Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...
in 1756,
and was a cousin of notable engraver
William Pether.
In childhood he showed a great talent for music, and at the age of nine played the organ in one of the Chichester churches.
Adopting art as his profession, he became a pupil of
George Smith,
whom he greatly surpassed. He painted river and mountain scenery, with classical buildings, in a pleasing though artificial style but his reputation rests on his moonlight subjects, which attracted much admiration, and earned for him the sobriquet of "Moonlight" Pether.
He was partial to the combination of moonlight and firelight, as in such subjects as ''Eruption of Vesuvius'', ''Ship on Fire in a Gale at Night'', ''An Iron foundry by Moonlight'' etc., which he painted with fine feeling and harmony of colour.
Pether was a major exhibitor with both the
Free Society of Artists
The Society of Artists of Great Britain was founded in London in May 1761 by an association of artists in order to provide a venue for the public exhibition of recent work by living artists, such as was having success in the long-established ...
and the
Incorporated Society of Artists from 1773 to 1791, and at the
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...
from 1784 to 1811.
He was a member of the Incorporated Society of Artists.
His "Harvest Moon", which was at the Academy in 1795, was highly praised at the time.
He had an extensive knowledge of scientific subjects, and in his moonlight pictures the astronomical conditions are always correctly observed.
Pether was also a clever inventor, constructing telescopes and microscopes for his own use, and lectured on electricity using instruments of his own making.
He also invented his own type of pencil.
Although his art was popular, Pether was never able to do more than supply the daily wants of his large family, and when attacked by a lingering disease, which incapacitated him for work and eventually caused his death, he was reduced to great poverty.
He died at
Southampton
Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
on 13 April 1812, leaving a widow, Elizabeth, and nine children quite destitute;
and the fact that they were unable to obtain any assistance from the
Artists' Benevolent Fund
The Artists' Benevolent Fund was instituted in 1810Sampson Low the younger. "Artists' Benevolent Fund" in ''The Charities of London in 1852-3''. Sampson Low and Son. London. 1854Page 101 and incorporated by royal charter on 2 August 1827. It has ...
was made the occasion of a fierce attack upon the management of that society.
Elizabeth Pether later went into business with a partner Thomas Thornton as "Pether & Co.", selling
black lead and chalk pencils. An advertisement in ''The Times'' in 1816 stated of the instruments: "the leads being freed by a chymical process from all impurities, and scratching particles".
Abraham Pether and his sons
Sebastian
Sebastian may refer to:
People
* Sebastian (name), including a list of persons with the name
Arts, entertainment, and media
Films and television
* ''Sebastian'' (1968 film), British spy film
* ''Sebastian'' (1995 film), Swedish drama film
...
(1793–1844) and
Henry Pether (1800-1880), specialised in moonlit scenes.
It is thought that Abraham had a brother called Thomas Pether (they are recorded as sharing a residence); the latter was a wax modeller who exhibited portraits in wax with the Free Society of Artists from 1772 to 1781.
See also
*
Night in paintings (Western art)
The depiction of night in paintings is common in Western art. Paintings that feature a night scene as the theme may be religious or history paintings, genre scenes, portraits, landscapes, or other subject types. Some artworks involve religious ...
References
External links
Paintings by Abraham Pether(
Government Art Collection)
A moonlit river landscape with cattle on a track(Oil on canvas, 1793 –
Christie's
Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is ...
)
Moonlight Scene(Hull Museum Collections)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pether, Abraham
English landscape painters
People from Chichester
1756 births
1812 deaths
Moon in art
Artists from London
Artists from Southampton
English inventors