Henry Charles Brewer (1866–1950) was a British painter well known in the first half of the 20th century for his watercolour landscapes and architectural paintings.

Family and early life

Born on 25 May 1866 in Wurzburg, Bavaria, Henry Charles Brewer was part of a family of leading professional artists. His father was the architectural illustrator Henry William Brewer, and his brother was the creator of etchings,

James Alphege Brewer James Alphege Brewer (1881-1946) was a well-known early 20th century producer of colour etchings - notably of English and European Cathedrals and churches and other scenes. Family & Early Life Brewer was born on 24th July 1881, in Kensington, ...

.Bolton, R. 'Views of Russia and Russian Work on Paper', Sphinx Fine Art, 2010 Their elder brother was the novelist and organist John Francis Brewer. Brewer' paternal grandfather was the historian

John Sherren Brewer John Sherren Brewer, Jr. (March 1809 – February 1879) was an English clergyman, historian and scholar. He was a brother of E. Cobham Brewer, compiler of ''Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase & Fable''. Birth and education Brewer was born in Norwich ...

and their great uncle was

E. Cobham Brewer Ebenezer Cobham Brewer (2 May 1810 in Norwich – 6 March 1897 in Edwinstowe, Nottinghamshire), was a British lexicographer and the author of ''A Guide to the Scientific Knowledge of Things Familiar'', ''Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable'' ...

, compiler of ''Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase & Fable''. He was educated at St Charles College, Kensington. Brewer's father and grandfather,

, were notable adherents of the Oxford Movement, inspired by

Augustus Pugin Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin ( ; 1 March 181214 September 1852) was an English architect, designer, artist and critic with French and, ultimately, Swiss origins. He is principally remembered for his pioneering role in the Gothic Revival st ...

. Henry William Brewer and his family, including Henry Charles Brewer, became high-profile converts to the Roman Catholic Church. Brewer lived on Perryn Road in Acton. His brother, James Alphege, also lived in Acton, and the artists collaborated on numerous paintings and were active in local artistic circles, including being members of the

Ealing Art Group The Ealing Art Guild was founded in 1910, to further the interests of local artists of all disciplines, whether professional, amateur or lay. The society later broadened its scope to become the Ealing Arts Club and, in due course, became the presen ...

Professional life

Brewer studied at

Westminster School of Art The Westminster School of Art was an art school in Westminster, London. History The Westminster School of Art was located at 18 Tufton Street, Deans Yard, Westminster, and was part of the old Royal Architectural Museum. H. M. Bateman described ...

with Frederick Brown and thereafter travelled extensively abroad in search of subjects. He is known to have visited, amongst other places, Tangier, Spain, Greece, Belgium, France and Italy, including Venice. His watercolours are loose an atmospheric, and he particularly enjoyed skies at dawn and sunset.His subjects include Cathedrals and other ecclesiastical and historical buildings, as well as pastoral and urban scenes. Many of his pictures depict scenes from London where he lived. Brewer exhibited at the

Fine Art Society The Fine Art Society is a gallery based in both London and in Edinburgh's New Town (originally Bourne Fine Art, established 1978). The New Bond Street, London gallery closed its doors in August 2018 after being occupied by The Fine Art Society si ...

and the Royal Academy between 1899 and 1902, and in 1913 the Royal Society of Arts awarded him its gold medal.'Benezit Dictionary of British Graphic Artists and Illustrators, Volume 1', Oxford University Press, 2012 Brewer also participated in a number of exhibitions in Australia and New Zealand. A member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours, Brewer was elected to the

Royal Institution of Great Britain The Royal Institution of Great Britain (often the Royal Institution, Ri or RI) is an organisation for scientific education and research, based in the City of Westminster. It was founded in 1799 by the leading British scientists of the age, inc ...

in 1914. He was also a member of the

Society of Graphic Art The Society of Graphic Art for Pornographique (renamed Society of Graphic Fine Art in 1984) is a British arts organisation established in 1999. History The Society of Graphic Art (SGA) was founded in 1999 by Frank Lewis Emanuel, whose idea it wa ...

. In 1932 he held an exhibition of 'Watercolours of Venice & Northern Italy, held at the Fine Art Society. No pictures by Brewer appear in the

Royal Collection Trust The Royal Collection of the British royal family is the largest private art collection in the world. Spread among 13 occupied and historic royal residences in the United Kingdom, the collection is owned by King Charles III and overseen by the ...

(unlike those of his father Henry William Brewer, who was commissioned by

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

and is represented by 26 pictures in the Collection). Nevertheless, Brewer holds a significant place in Royal art. He undertook a number of paintings of the George VI's Coronation Ceremony in 1937, five of which were reproduced as large coloured plates in 'The Illustrated London News Coronation Record Number George VI & Queen Elizabeth' of the same year. Despite his Roman Catholic faith, very few of Brewer's pictures could be described as devotional. Even the illustrations undertaken by both Brewer and his father, Henry William Brewer, for Stuart Rose's 1891 book, 'St. Ignatius Loyola and the Early Jesuits', focused on buildings and landscape. Brewer's subjects were chosen rather with an eye to commercial success. In 1928 however, he was commissioned to create wall paintings in the Lady Chapel of St Peter's Church, Ealing. The painted figures, representing the Annunciation, are placed around a reredos designed by

Leonard Shuffrey Leonard Shuffrey (1852–1926) was a British architect and architectural designer of the late Victorian and Edwardian period. He was a leading figure of the aesthetic movement that had a significant impact on the development of buildings and ...

- creating an assemblage of significant visual impact. This is Brewer's only known church decoration work. Brewer died at his home in Ealing on 21 October 1950 and is buried in Acton Cemetery.

Public Collections

The

Victoria & Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

holds two Henry Charles Brewer paintings.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brewer, Henry Charles 1866 births 1950 deaths 20th-century English painters Alumni of the Westminster School of Art Artists from London Members of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours