William Havell (9 February 1782 – 16 December 1857) was an English landscape painter, one of the
Havell family
The Havell family of Reading, Berkshire, England, included a number of notable engravers, etchers and painters, as well as writers, publishers, educators, and musicians. In particular, members of this family were among the foremost practitioners ...
of artists, and a founding member of the
Society of Painters in Watercolours
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 wat ...
.
Life and work
Havell was born in
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...
in Berkshire, one of fourteen children, the son of
Luke Havell, a drawing master, who also kept a small shop to eke out his narrow means. He attended
Reading Grammar School – where his father taught art. Although his father was initially reluctant to encourage his son in his choice of career – knowing from personal experience the potential financial hardship involved – he was won over by William's obvious talent, and funded a sketching trip to
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
, which proved to be an invaluable training ground.
[Redgrave 1866.]
In 1804 William sent his first contribution to the
Royal Academy – a view of
Carnarvon Castle
Caernarfon Castle ( cy, Castell Caernarfon ) – often anglicised as Carnarvon Castle or Caernarvon Castle – is a medieval fortress in Caernarfon, Gwynedd, north-west Wales cared for by Cadw, the Welsh Government's historic environ ...
and another of the valley of
Nant Ffrancon valley in Wales. In the same year he became one of the founding members of the
Society of Painters in Watercolours
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 wat ...
. In 1807 he went to
Ambleside
Ambleside is a town and former civil parish, now in the parish of Lakes, in Cumbria, in North West England.
Historically in Westmorland, it marks the head (and sits on the east side of the northern headwater) of Windermere, England's larges ...
(in the
Lake District) where he stayed about two years, studying mountain scenery and producing many fine works.
[Redrave 1905.] In 1813 he seceded from the Watercolour Society, but under a then existing rule continued to contribute to their exhibitions, as well as to the Royal Academy, where he exhibited in 1812 and 1814.
In 1816 Havell was engaged in painting a series of pictures called 'Picturesque Views and Characteristic Scenery of British Villas', when he was appointed to the post of draughtsman with
Lord Amherst
Field Marshal Jeffery Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst, (29 January 1717 – 3 August 1797) was a British Army officer and Commander-in-Chief of the Forces in the British Army. Amherst is credited as the architect of Britain's successful campaig ...
's embassy to
China. As a result of a serious quarrel on board ship with one of the officers, his position became untenable and he left the post, sailing to
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
in 1817. There he stayed until 1825, finding lucrative employment in painting portraits and landscapes.
On his return he rejoined the Watercolour Society, but found that his work was not as popular as it once had been, and after a while be ceased to contribute to their exhibitions and took to painting in
oils
An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...
instead.
In 1827, Havell travelled to Italy with
Thomas Uwins (1782–1857), visiting
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...
, Rome, and
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
. He became a frequent exhibitor at the Royal Academy, his subjects being chiefly Italian, but sometimes from Wales, Westmoreland, and China. He also exhibited at the
British Institution and
Suffolk Street. Although his works were of great merit and distinguished by pure and delicate colour, they failed to attract the public, and having lost his savings by the failure of an Indian bank, he became a pensioner on the Royal Academy's Turner Fund.
Havell died, after some years of declining health, at
Kensington, London, on 16 December 1857, 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 Frederick ...
.
Family
Three of Havell's brothers were also artists of note. George Havell (d. 1839?) was an animal painter, and attempted engraving and sculpture. Edmund Havell was an occasional exhibitor at the Royal Academy, and he succeeded his father as drawing-master at Reading – his son, Edmund Havell the younger (b. 1819), was a well-known artist. Frederick James Havell (1801–1840), the third brother, practised line engraving and mezzotint, and made experiments in photography.
Appraisal
Havell was one of the best of the earlier painters in water-colour, and did much to advance this art, and his pictures in oil, though neglected during his lifetime, have risen greatly in estimation. Between 1804 and 1857 he exhibited 103 landscapes at the Royal Academy, 42 at the British Institution and 32 at Suffolk Street. James described his works as "remarkable for good composition and often for the effect of sunshine".
[James 1896.] The Redgraves described his oil paintings as "having much excellence...well-composed and arranged...".
References
;Attribution
Further reading
*
Redgrave, Richard &
Redgrave, Samuel.
A century of painters of the English school, volume 1' (1866) pp.&nbs
518–23
*James, Ralph N.
Painters and Their Works, volume 1' (London: L. Upcott Gill, 1896) pp.&nbs
521–2
*Redgrave, Gilbert Richard.
A history of water-colour painting in England' (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1905) pp.&nbs
101–2
*Grant, Maurice Harold. ''A chronological history of the old English landscape painters (in oil), Volume 7''.
*Owen, Felicity. ''William Havell, 1782–1857, paintings, watercolours, drawings and prints'' (Reading Museum & Art Gallery, 1981)
External links
(ArtCyclopedia)
* (
Museum of Reading
Reading Museum (run by the Reading Museum Service) is a museum of the history of the town of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire, and the surrounding area. It is accommodated within Reading Town Hall, and contains galleries describing th ...
)
Biography of Havell(answers.com)
Works by Havell(
Government Art Collection
The Government Art Collection (GAC) is the collection of artworks owned by the UK government and administered by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). The GAC's artworks are used to decorate major government buildings in t ...
)
Works by Havell(Reading Foundation for Art)
Works and portrait of Havell(Art Renewal Center)
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Havell, William
18th-century English painters
English male painters
19th-century English painters
Landscape artists
English watercolourists
Artists from Reading, Berkshire
1857 deaths
1782 births
19th-century English male artists
18th-century English male artists