Robert Charles Goff (1837–1922) was a

printmaker Printmaking is the process of creating work of art, artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand proce ...

and

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

who specialised in topographical scenes. As an etcher he was strongly influenced by the work of

James McNeill Whistler James Abbott McNeill Whistler (; July 10, 1834July 17, 1903) was an American painter active during the American Gilded Age and based primarily in the United Kingdom. He eschewed sentimentality and moral allusion in painting and was a leading pr ...

. Born in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, he obtained a commission in the 50th Queen's Own Regiment just before his eighteenth birthday. He fought in the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...

and became adjutant of his regiment before going to Ceylon and then transferring to the 15th Foot then the

Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the monarchy; due to this, it often participates in state ceremonia ...

. Having achieved the rank of colonel, he retired from the

in 1878 to concentrate on his art work, having learned etching from a fellow officer. He was elected Fellow of the

Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers The Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers (RE), known until 1991 as the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers, is a leading art institution based in London, England. The Royal Society of Painter-Etchers, as it was originally styled, was ...

in 1887. In 1877 he married Beatrice Teresa Testaferrata-Abela, daughter of Baron Testaferrata-Abela of Malta and had a son, Francis who died in 1891. His wife also died and in 1899 he remarried The Hon Clarissa Catherine de Hochepied-Larpent, daughter of

Arthur de Hochepied Larpent, 8th Baron de Hochepied Arthur John de Hochepied Larpent, 8th Baron de Hochepied (18 March 1832 – 24 August 1887) was an English judge and landowner of Huguenot and Dutch descent. The title Baron de Hochepied, in the nobility of the Kingdom of Hungary, had been granted ...

, and thus became brother-in-law of his friends

Philip Napier Miles Philip Napier Miles JP DLitt ''h.c.'' (Bristol) (21 January 1865 – 19 July 1935) was a prominent and wealthy citizen of Bristol, UK, who left his mark on the city, especially on what are now its western suburbs, through his musical and organis ...

and

George Percy Jacomb-Hood George Percy Jacomb-Hood (6 July 1857 – 11 December 1929) was a painter, etcher and illustrator. He was a founding member of the New English Art Club and Society of Portrait Painters. Early life Jacomb-Hood was born on 6 July 1857 at Redhill ...

. Goff lived in London and Brighton but travelled extensively. He moved in the 1890s to a villa overlooking Florence and he and his second wife wrote about the area. He then moved during the First World War to Villa Valerie, Bellaria,

La Tour-de-Peilz La Tour-de-Peilz () is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut District in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud in Switzerland. The city is located on Lake Geneva between Montreux and Vevey (their agglomeratio ...

, Switzerland where he died in 1922.
Brighton and Hove Museum and Art Gallery
hold a large collection of Goff's work. In 2011 art historia
Alexandra Loske researched this collection
in preparation for an exhibition of Goff's work at the museum's Prints and Drawings Gallery:
Robert Goff: An Etcher in the Wake of Whistler
(29 November 2011 to 29 April 2012). The exhibition comprised approx. 50 works by Goff, mostly etchings and some other works on paper. On display were local views of Brighton, Hove and Sussex, as well as pictures from his travels in other parts of Britain, Italy, Egypt and Japan.

References

External links

University of Sussex: Researcher reveals lost world of local artist Robert Goff

Robert Goff: An Etcher in the Wake of Whistler (Brighton & Hove Museum and Art Gallery)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Goff, Robert Charles 1837 births 1922 deaths British printmakers 19th-century Irish painters 20th-century Irish painters Irish male painters 20th-century printmakers 19th-century Irish male artists 20th-century Irish male artists