Henry Alexander Bowler (30 November 1824 – 6 August 1903) was an English artist. He was a teacher at the

Royal Academy of Arts 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 purpo ...

for many years, and exhibited paintings there.

Life

Bowler was born in the

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

district of London, son of Charles and Frances Anne Bowler. After education at private schools he studied art at Leigh's School and the Government School of Design at

Somerset House Somerset House is a large Neoclassical complex situated on the south side of the Strand in central London, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The Georgian era quadrangle was built on the site of a Tudor palace ("O ...

. In 1851 he was appointed headmaster of the Stourbridge College of Art, but was soon transferred to a teaching appointment in the school at Somerset House, where he had received his training. In 1855 he was appointed an inspector in the

Science and Art Department The Science and Art Department was a British government body which functioned from 1853 to 1899, promoting education in art, science, technology and design in Britain and Ireland. Background The Science and Art Department was created as a subdivis ...

, and in 1876 became assistant director for art at South Kensington. From 1861 to 1899 Bowler was teacher of perspective at the

. He also held important posts in organising the

1862 International Exhibition The International Exhibition of 1862, or Great London Exposition, was a world's fair. It was held from 1 May to 1 November 1862, beside the gardens of the Royal Horticultural Society, South Kensington, London, England, on a site that now houses ...

and subsequent exhibitions. From 1847 to 1871 Bowler exhibited ten pictures, mostly landscapes, at the Royal Academy, and others at the

British Institution The British Institution (in full, the British Institution for Promoting the Fine Arts in the United Kingdom; founded 1805, disbanded 1867) was a private 19th-century society in London formed to exhibit the works of living and dead artists; it w ...

and elsewhere. A notable work is ''The Doubt: "Can these Dry Bones Live?"'' of 1854, exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1855, and again at the 1862 International Exhibition. It was presented to the Tate Gallery by a member of the family in 1921. Bowler retired from the Science and Art Department in 1891. He died at his home in Kensington on 6 August 1903, and was buried at

Kensal Green Cemetery Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of Queens Park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, it was founded by the barrister George Frederic ...

. In 1853 he married Ellen Archer Archer, daughter of Thomas Archer, J.P., vicar of Whitchurch, Buckinghamshire, and had three sons and one daughter.

References

Attribution *

External links

*
''The Doubt: "Can these Dry Bones Live?"''
at

Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowler, Henry Alexander 1824 births 1903 deaths 19th-century English painters Alumni of the Heatherley School of Fine Art Alumni of the Royal College of Art Artists from London Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery People from Kensington