George Price Boyce (24 September 1826 – 9 February 1897) was a British

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 ...

painter of

landscapes A landscape is the visible features of an area of Terrestrial ecoregion, land, its landforms, and how they integrate with Nature, natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionar ...

and

vernacular architecture Vernacular architecture is building done outside any academic tradition, and without professional guidance. This category encompasses a wide range and variety of building types, with differing methods of construction, from around the world, bo ...

in the

Pre-Raphaelite The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (later known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, James ...

style. He was a patron and friend of

Dante Gabriel Rossetti Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti (12 May 1828 – 9 April 1882), generally known as Dante Gabriel Rossetti (), was an English poet, illustrator, painter, translator and member of the Rossetti family. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhoo ...

Life

Boyce was born in Gray's Inn Terrace in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, and was the son of George Boyce, a wine merchant turned pawnbroker. His sister was the painter

Joanna Mary Boyce Joanna Mary Boyce (7 December 1831 – 15 July 1861) was a British painter associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. She is also known by her married name as Mrs. H.T. Wells, or as Joanna Mary Wells. She produced multiple works with histo ...

. He went to school in

Chipping Ongar Chipping Ongar () is a market town and former civil parish, now in the parish of Ongar, in the Epping Forest District of the county of Essex, England. It is located east of Epping, southeast of Harlow and northwest of Brentwood. In 2020 th ...

in Essex, and then studied in Paris. In October 1843 he was articled to an architect named Little, with whom he remained for four years, until joining the architectural firm of Wyatt and Brandon. Already disillusioned with architecture a meeting with the artist David Cox in August 1849 persuaded him to give up the profession and take up watercolour painting instead. His early work shows the influence of Cox who he met again in Bettws-y-Coed in 1851, but he went on to develop his own detailed style under the influence of the Pre-Raphaelite painters, having met

Thomas Seddon : ''For the New Zealand politician see'' Tom Seddon Thomas Seddon (London, 28 August 1821Cairo, 23 November 1856) was an English landscape painter associated with the Pre-Raphaelite movement, who painted colourful and highly detailed scenes of ...

and Rossetti in about 1849 and

William Holman Hunt William Holman Hunt (2 April 1827 – 7 September 1910) was an English painter and one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. His paintings were notable for their great attention to detail, vivid colour, and elaborate symbolism. ...

and

John Everett Millais Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Baronet, ( , ; 8 June 1829 – 13 August 1896) was an English painter and illustrator who was one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. He was a child prodigy who, aged eleven, became the youngest ...

in 1853, in which year he painted in

Dinan Dinan (; ) is a walled Breton town and a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in northwestern France. On 1 January 2018, the former commune of Léhon was merged into Dinan. Geography Its geographical setting is exceptional. Instead of n ...

, Brittany, with Seddon.George Price Boyce RWS (1826–1897): An Overview
at Victorianweb.org (Accessed 2 April 2007) In 1854 he went to Venice, where he sketched subjects recommended to him by the critic

John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English writer, philosopher, art critic and polymath of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany and politi ...

. who corresponded with him during his four months in the city. Much of his work from the late 1850s concentrated on English landscapes, often incorporating views of vernacular architecture, especially around the Thames Valley villages of

Pangbourne Pangbourne is a large village and civil parish on the River Thames in Berkshire, England. Pangbourne has its own shops, schools, a railway station on the Great Western main line and a village hall. Outside its grouped developed area is an in ...

Mapledurham Mapledurham is a small village, civil parish and country estate beside the River Thames in southern Oxfordshire. The large parish borders Caversham, the most affluent major district of Reading, Berkshire. Historic buildings in the area include ...

, Whitchurch and Streatley, swell as in Sussex and Surrey. In the 1870s he painted many views of

Ludlow Ludlow () is a market town in Shropshire, England. The town is significant in the history of the Welsh Marches and in relation to Wales. It is located south of Shrewsbury and north of Hereford, on the A49 road which bypasses the town. The t ...

, and was increasingly drawn to more remote landscapes in Britain. In 1861, following the death of his sister, he went to

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

, where he shared a house in

Giza Giza (; sometimes spelled ''Gizah'' arz, الجيزة ' ) is the second-largest city in Egypt after Cairo and fourth-largest city in Africa after Kinshasa, Lagos and Cairo. It is the capital of Giza Governorate with a total population of 9.2 ...

with

Frank Dillon Frank Edward Dillon (October 17, 1873 – September 12, 1931), known in later years as Pop Dillon, was an American baseball player and manager. He played 22 seasons in professional baseball from 1894 to 1915, including five years in Major League ...

and

Egron Lundgren Egron Sellif Lundgren (18 December 1815, Stockholm – 16 December 1875, Stockholm) was a Swedish painter and author who specialized in watercolors. Biography His father, Erik Lundgren, was a manufacturer. After 1829, he studied at the KTH Roya ...

until the February of the following year. Rossetti, who disliked working out of doors borrowed Boyce's sketches to provide the background for his watercolour ''Writing on the Sand'' (1858; British Museum, London). Boyce exhibited both oils and watercolours 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 ...

between 1853 and 1861. He was a founding member of the

Hogarth Club The Hogarth Club was an exhibition society of artists, based at 84 Charlotte Street, Fitzrovia, London, UK, which existed between 1858 and 1861. It was founded by former members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood after the original PRB had been d ...

. and of the Medieval Society, an organisation, formed mostly of architects, dedicated to promoting interest in the art and architecture of the Middle Ages. He was also a leading member of the

Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) (also known as Anti-Scrape) is an amenity society founded by William Morris, Philip Webb, and others in 1877 to oppose the destructive 'restoration' of ancient buildings occurring in ...

. He exhibited frequently at the

Royal Watercolour Society The Royal Watercolour Society is a British institution of painters working in watercolours. The Society is a centre of excellence for water-based media on paper, which allows for a diverse and interesting range of approaches to the medium of wa ...

and was elected Associate in 1864 and Member in 1878. From 1871 he lived at

West House, Chelsea West House is a Grade II* listed Queen Anne revival house at 35 Glebe Place, Chelsea, London. It was built in 1868–69 by the architect Philip Webb, on behalf of the artist George Price Boyce. It was extended in 1876 by Webb, and in 1901 ...

, designed for him by his friend

Philip Webb Philip Speakman Webb (12 January 1831 – 17 April 1915) was a British architect and designer sometimes called the Father of Arts and Crafts Architecture. His use of vernacular architecture demonstrated his commitment to "the art of common ...

.Newall and Egerton (1987), p.30 He retired from painting in 1893 through ill health. and died at West House on 9 February 1897. Boyce's diary has become a major source of information on Rossetti and the

Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (later known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, James ...

References

Sources

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External links

Lot details
for artworks
The Pre-Raph Pack
Discover more about the artists, the techniques they used and a timeline spanning 100 years. {{DEFAULTSORT:Boyce, George Price 19th-century English painters English male painters English watercolourists English landscape painters 1826 births 1897 deaths Pre-Raphaelite painters Artists' Rifles soldiers Painters from London People from Chipping Ongar 19th-century English male artists