Samuel Alken Sr. (

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 ...

22 October 1756 – 9 November 1815

) was an English

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, t ...

, a leading exponent of the newly developed technique of

aquatint Aquatint is an intaglio printmaking technique, a variant of etching that produces areas of tone rather than lines. For this reason it has mostly been used in conjunction with etching, to give both lines and shaded tone. It has also been used ...

History

Samuel Alken entered the Royal Academy Schools, London, as a sculptor in 1772. He published ''A New Book of Ornaments Designed and Etched by Samuel Alken'' in 1779, and later established himself as one of the most competent engravers in the new technique of aquatint. His works included plates after

George Morland George Morland (26 June 176329 October 1804) was an English painter. His early work was influenced by Francis Wheatley, but after the 1790s he came into his own style. His best compositions focus on rustic scenes: farms and hunting; smugglers a ...

, Richard Wilson,

Thomas Rowlandson Thomas Rowlandson (; 13 July 175721 April 1827) was an English artist and caricaturist of the Georgian Era, noted for his political satire and social observation. A prolific artist and printmaker, Rowlandson produced both individual social an ...

and Francis Wheatley. His plates for ''Sixteen views of the lakes in Cumberland and Westmorland'' after drawings

John Emes John Emes (1762–1810) was a British engraver and water-colour painter. His wife Rebecca Emes ran a successful silver business after his death.Anne Pimlott Baker, 'Emes, John (1762–1808)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford Uni ...

and John Smith were published in 1796, and a set of aquatint views of North Wales after drawings by the Rev. Brian Broughton in 1798.

Relatives

The Alken family claims several well-known artists.''The Grove Dictionary of Art'' on Alken a
artnet.com
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Bibliography

*S. T. Prideaux: ''Aquatint Engraving'' (London, 1909, rev. 1968) *M. D. George: ''A Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires'', London, B.M. cat., vii (London, 1942)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alken, Samuel 1756 births 1815 deaths Painters from London Animal artists 18th-century English painters English male painters 19th-century English painters 19th-century English male artists 18th-century English male artists

History

Relatives

See also

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References