Samuel Prout - Untitled

The painting can be defined as a genre scene, that is, the depiction of an episode of everyday life that, apparently, lacks any significant element. These types of domestic subjects were long considered minor and only began to spread in Western art starting in the 17th century. Only with the development of 19th-century realism did everyday subjects become considered as important as historical or religious ones. The urban landscape, animated by scenes of popular life, typical of the works of the English watercolorist Samuel Prout, also harks back to the "Vedutism" tradition. His pictorial production, in fact, is distinguished by objective representations of cities, in rationally structured compositions in which sensory details are captured with absolute fidelity.

Artist Samuel Prout specializes in views of English towns. His exquisitely figurative language is nourished by a precise recording of sensory information, in views rationally arranged according to a regular perspective grid of classical tradition. In short, Samuel Prout's artistic practice is heir to Vedutismo, of which he is an extraordinary interpreter in the objective, almost scientific, representation of sensory information. We can indeed observe how, thanks to an extraordinary watercolor technique, Prout is able to clearly depict every detail of the scene and place all the elements in a concrete space. Furthermore, it is a lively representation, thanks to the dynamic application of color, which lends freshness to the execution. From this perspective, his use of light is extraordinary, not only in the evocative direction of shadows, but also and above all in unifying the entire space of the work in the coherent and unique atmosphere of a clear, sunny day.

Samuel Prout was a watercolourist and lithographer, born in Plymouth in 1783 and died in London in 1853. He was a painter in the service of King George IV and, later, of Queen Victoria. At first he painted mainly seascapes; then, after travelling (1818) in France, Belgium and Switzerland, he became a well-known watercolourist of landscapes (Saint-Vincent at Rouen, The Coliseum, London, Victoria and Albert Museum; View of Ghent, London, British Museum; etc.). He published Rudiments of landscape in progressive studies (1813); in Sketches in France, Switzerland and Italy (1839, series of lithographs) the works executed during his travels were successfully collected.

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