Samuel Prout OWS (1783–1852) was one of the masters of British watercolour architectural painting. He was appointed Painter in Water-Colours in Ordinary to King George IV, 1829, and afterwards to Queen Victoria.

Prout was born at Plymouth, and spent his youth sketching the rustic cottages and bridges of rural Devon. In 1803 he moved to London, where he earned a living painting marine pieces for Palser the printseller and was one of the first to use lithography.

In 1819 he became a member of the Old Watercolour Society, and the same year, he undertook the first of numerous sketching tours to the Continent. From this time on, Prout found his niche, depicting the picturesque streets and buildings of France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. His resulting atmospheric watercolours of picturesque architecture were highly popular and influential, widely reproduced as lithographic illustrations and enjoying the high praise of John Ruskin.

His work is represented in numerous public collections, including the British Museum, Courtauld Gallery, Tate and V&;A; The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge; Manchester Art Gallery; Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery.