* Severn Boscastle Harbour {1885} Loc? [WT]

Severn, Walter (1830-1904; English)
Boscastle Harbour
Watercolour, c.55.88 x 129.54 cm
Presented by the artist, 1885
Unidentified; present location unknown

The artist, known for his topographical watercolours, was the son of Joseph Severn (1793-1879), a portrait painter who was also a friend of the poet Keats.

Another large watercolour by Severn is in the AGNSW (donated in 1899): see comparative reproduction below. However, the work formerly in Melbourne cannot be traced.

[comparative work: Cowden Knowes 1896 (AGNSW)]

Refs.

AR 1885, p.36; NGV 1894, p.46 (II.Stawell Gallery, no.19): size given as 22 x 51 inches); NGV 1905, p. 43 (II.Stawell Gallery, no.20) 

For Severn, see Mallalieu (1976), p.234, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Severn, http://etchings.arts.gla.ac.uk/catalogue/biog/?nid=SeveW (with biographical details and further references); Bénézit 12, p.601 (listing the present work); and http://www.artnet.com/artists/walter-severn/past-auction-results (with reproductions of other examples of his work). See also http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/5822/ (including the work reproduced above, a gift from  Miss Eadith Walker in 1899; the size is given as 64 x 101 cm [sight])