Samuel Prout

Why this artist matters now

Samuel Prout was a British watercolourist, and one of the masters of watercolour architectural painting, who largely invented the genre of the grand steet scene in British watercolour painting, mostly with picturesque scenes from continental cities. Prout secured the position of Painter in Water-Colours in Ordinary to King George IV in 1829 and afterwards to Queen Victoria. John Ruskin, whose work often emulated Prout's, wrote in 1844, "Sometimes I tire of Turner, but never of Prout". Prout is often compared to his contemporaries: Turner, Constable and Ruskin, whom he taught. He was the uncle of the artist John Skinner Prout.

Source: Smithsonian Institution · Trust score: 90% · Updated 1mo ago