William Evans of Bristol AOWS, Jane & Elias Roberts – Mid-C19th watercolour

William Evans of Bristol AOWS Jane & Elias Roberts

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An original mid-19th-century watercolour painting, William Evans of Bristol AOWS, Jane & Elias Roberts.

This touching sketch of two children, 'Jane & Elias Roberts', is by William Evans of Bristol AOWS (1809–1858). Born in Bristol, Evans was a pupil of Francis Danby (1793– 1861) and associated with the artists of the Bristol School.

Evans had a deft touch and, although a landscape artist, he was also skilled at figures. In the present work we see his flat washes sensitively blocking out the forms of the young siblings, the merest touches of paint bringing life to the face of Jane—looking out at, and also, more wistfully, beyond us. For further examples of Evans's sensitive figure subjects in watercolour, see 'Study of Country Boys' and 'A Woman and Child by a Hearth', 1842, both in the collection of the Yale Center for British Art (B1975.4.825 and B1975.4.1172).

Provenance: Exhibited by Martyn Gregory (cat. 49) William Evans of Bristol exhibition 1987 no.30. Kaye Michie Fine Art.

On wove paper.

William Evans of Bristol AOWS (1809–1858)

William Evans of Bristol AOWS (1809–1858), having been taught drawing in Bristol, was by 1827 himself giving drawing lessons in Clifton. From 1832 to 1833 he was a member of a sketching club which included William James Müller (1812–1845) and John Skinner Prout (1805–1876), nephew of Samuel Prout. In 1842 Evans toured with Müller, then from 1844 he relocated to the mountainous wilds of North Wales, wishing to absorb himself in the study of nature first-hand. He made home at a farm called Tyn-y-Cai, at the junction of the River Lledr and River Conwy, near Betws-y-Coed—the artists' colony popularised by David Cox (1783–1859) the same year.

Evans was elected associate of the Old Watercolour Society in 1845, where he exhibited until 1859. After 1852 he visited Italy, spending the winter successively at Genoa, Rome, and Naples, where he was joined by fellow Bristol artist James Baker Pyne (1800–1870).