Allen Edward Everitt (1824 – 11 June 1882) was an English architectural artist and illustrator. He was a leading artist in the
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
area between 1850 and 1880, and his work is a valuable historical record of local buildings of that period.
Life and work
Everitt was born in Birmingham, the son of Edward Everitt, an art dealer, and grandson of Allen Everitt, a well-known local artist and art teacher. His maternal grandfather was David Parkes, the
Shropshire
Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...
antiquarian. He showed an early talent for art and received lessons from
David Cox, with whom he remained a friend. His specialty was drawing old buildings and their interiors. Taking Birmingham as a centre he made careful drawings of almost every spot in the
Midlands of archaeological or historical interest. Between the ages of thirty and forty, he made painting tours of Belgium, France and Germany. After this, he devoted himself particularly to building interiors, his work being mainly carried out in
watercolour
Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...
.
In 1857, Everitt joined the
Royal Birmingham Society of Artists
The Royal Birmingham Society of Artists or RBSA is an art society, based in the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham, England, where it owns and operates an art gallery, the RBSA Gallery, on Brook Street, just off St Paul's Square. It is both a ...
, becoming, in 1858, honorary secretary, a post he held until his death. He taught drawing for many years at the ''
Deaf and Dumb Institution'' in Church Road,
Edgbaston
Edgbaston () is an affluent suburban area of central Birmingham, England, historically in Warwickshire, and curved around the southwest of the city centre.
In the 19th century, the area was under the control of the Gough-Calthorpe family a ...
, of which he was also, virtually, the secretary. In 1870, the archaeological section of the
Midlands Institute was formed, and Everitt was appointed one of its honorary secretaries. He contributed to its journal, "Transactions", with articles on "Aston Church", "
Handsworth Church and its surroundings",
Handsworth Church & its Surroundings
(Digital Handsworth). "Archaeological researches ten miles around Birmingham", " Northfield Church", "Hampton-in-Arden
Hampton in Arden is a village and civil parish located in the Forest of Arden in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, in the West Midlands of England. Hampton in Arden was part of Warwickshire until the 1974 boundary changes. It lies within ...
", "Old houses in the Midlands" etc. He was also, for a time, a member of the general council of the Institute. In June 1880, he was appointed honorary curator of the municipal "Birmingham Free Art Gallery", the forerunner of the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (BM&AG) is a museum and art gallery in Birmingham, England. It has a collection of international importance covering fine art, ceramics, metalwork, jewellery, natural history, archaeology, ethnography, local ...
.
In 1854, Everitt completed a series of drawings of Aston Hall
Aston Hall is a Grade I listed Jacobean house in Aston, Birmingham, England, designed by John Thorpe and built between 1618 and 1635. It is a leading example of the Jacobean prodigy house.
In 1864, the house was bought by Birmingham Corpor ...
, in Warwickshire
Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...
, which were used to illustrate Alfred Davidson's ''History of the Holtes of Aston, Baronets, with a description of the family mansion'' (see bibliography). He also illustrated John Thackray Bunce
John Thackray Bunce (11 April 1828 – 28 June 1899) was a British journalist and author. He served as editor of '' Aris's Birmingham Gazette'' from 1860 to 1862, and of the ''Birmingham Post'' from 1862 to 1898.
Early years
Bunce was bo ...
's ''History of old St. Martin's'' (1875), the parish church of Birmingham.
In 1880, Everitt married Frances Hudson. He died on 11 June 1882, at Edgbaston, where he had lived most of his life, of "congestion of the lungs". His very large collection of sketches has proved to be an invaluable historical record of buildings in the Birmingham area, many of which no longer exist.
See also
*Art of Birmingham
Birmingham has a distinctive culture of art and design that emerged in the 1750s, driven by the historic importance of the applied arts to the city's manufacturing economy. While other early industrial towns such as Manchester and Bradford were bas ...
References
Bibliography
Books featuring illustrations by Everitt:
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External links
A E Everitt
(Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery)
Handsworth Views by Allen Edward Everitt
(Digital Handsworth)
*
A E Everitt on Artnet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Everitt, Allen Edward
19th-century English painters
English male painters
English watercolourists
English illustrators
Landscape artists
Members and Associates of the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists
People from Birmingham, West Midlands
1824 births
1882 deaths
19th-century English male artists