William Marlow (1740 – 14 January 1813) was an English landscape and marine painter and

etcher Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...

Life

Vesuvius erupting at Night by William Marlow

Marlow was born in Southwark,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

. He spent five years as a pupil of the marine painter Samuel Scott, and also studied at the

St. Martin's Lane Academy The St Martin's Lane Academy, a precursor of the Royal Academy, was organised in 1735 by William Hogarth, from the circle of artists and designers who gathered at Slaughter's Coffee House at the upper end of St Martin's Lane, London. The artistic ...

. He became a member of the

Incorporated Society of Artists The Society of Artists of Great Britain was founded in London in May 1761 by an association of artists in order to provide a venue for the public exhibition of recent work by living artists, such as was having success in the long-established P ...

, and from 1762 to 1764 contributed to their exhibitions in

Spring Gardens Spring Gardens is a dead-end street at the south east extreme of St. James's, London, England, that crosses the east end of The Mall between Admiralty Arch and Trafalgar Square. Part of the old liberty of Westminster and the current City of W ...

. He was employed in painting views of country houses. From 1765 to 1768, on the advice of the Duchess of Northumberland, he travelled in France and Italy. On his return to London he took up residence in Leicester Square, and renewed his contributions to the Society of Artists, of which was made a Fellow in 1771. In 1788 he moved to

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

, and began to exhibit at the Royal Academy, where he showed regularly until 1796, and then again, for the last time, in 1807, when he exhibited ''Twickenham Ferry by Moonlight''. He died in Twickenham on 14 January 1813.

Work

Marlow painted in both oils and watercolours, and drew marine and landscape scenes. He was influenced by Richard Wilson and

Canaletto Giovanni Antonio Canal (18 October 1697 – 19 April 1768), commonly known as Canaletto (), was an Italian painter from the Republic of Venice, considered an important member of the 18th-century Venetian school. Painter of city views or ...

. According to one critic, "his drawings are graceful but of no great power, and his method in water-colour did not advance beyond tinting", and "he realised a moderate competence". Another writer commented, "his watercolours are rather feeble in the stained manner, but his views of the Thames are truthful and delicate in colour". His subjects were generally British country scenes, but he painted some pictures from his Italian sketches, and etched some of the latter, as well as some views on the Thames. His views of the bridges at Westminster and Blackfriars in London were engraved. Marlow contributed to an album of watercolours illustrating William Chambers's designs for buildings and improvements at

Kew Gardens Kew Gardens is a botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botanical and mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1840, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its living collections include some of the ...

. In 1763 the pictures were engraved and published in a volume entitled ''Plans, Elevations, Sections and Perspective Views of the Gardens and Buildings of Kew in Surrey, the Seat of Her Royal Highness, the Princess Dowager of Wales''. In 1795 his former pupil, John Curtis, published a set of six Italian views by Marlow. In an oil painting entitled ''Capriccio: St Paul's and a Venetian Canal'' (c.1795), now in the collection of the

Tate Gallery 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 ...

, Marlow created an architectural fantasy in which Wren's cathedral was transferred to the Italian city. Marlow exhibited a total of 152 works – 125 at the Society of Artists, two at the Free Society of Artists, and 25 at the Royal Academy. Much of Marlow's work is to be found in the

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 ...

and Tate Gallery in London, and some in regional galleries in Britain including Derby Art Gallery.William Marlow
BBC, accessed August 2011

References

;Attribution *

External links

*

(ArtCyclopedia)
William Marlow biography
("Grove Dictionary of Art" at artnet.com)
Works by Marlow
(Government Art Collection)
Works by Marlow
(Tate Gallery)
View of the Lake and the Island from the Lawn at Kew
(1763, watercolour – The Metropolitan Museum of Art)
View of the Wilderness at Kew
(1763, watercolour – The Metropolitan Museum of Art)
Strawberry Hill
( V & A)
A View of the Château de Pierre Scize on the river Saône at Lyon
(oil on canvas – National Galleries of Scotland) {{DEFAULTSORT:Marlow, William English printmakers 1740 births 1813 deaths 18th-century English painters 19th-century English painters 18th-century English male artists 19th-century English male artists Artists from London English male painters English etchers English watercolourists English landscape painters British marine artists People from Southwark