Edward Calvert (20 September 179914 July 1883) was an English

printmaker Printmaking is the process of creating artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand processed technique ...

and

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

Biography

Early life

Edward Calvert was born in Appledore, near

Bideford Bideford ( ) is a historic port town on the estuary of the River Torridge in north Devon, South West England. It is the main town of the Torridge District, Torridge Districts of England, local government district. Toponymy In ancient records Bi ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, the son of Captain Roland Calvert. After a spell in the Navy he studied art at

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

and the

Royal Academy Schools The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

(1824). His early visionary work was greatly inspired by

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake has become a seminal figure in the history of the Romantic poetry, poetry and visual art of the Roma ...

, and he became a member of the Blake-influenced group known as The Ancients which met at Samuel Palmer's in Shoreham, Kent in the later 1820s and early 1830s. Edward Calvert - The Brook - ABDAG000009

Edward Calvert - The Brook - ABDAG000009

Work

Amongst Calvert's finest works are exquisite miniature

wood engraving Wood engraving is a printmaking technique, in which an artist works an image into a block of wood. Functionally a variety of woodcut, it uses relief printing, where the artist applies ink to the face of the block and prints using relatively l ...

s which date from this early period; his wood and copper engravings all date from 1827–31, but were only seen by friends until published by his son in 1893 in an edition of 350. He also made

etching Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other type ...

s. In 1844 he visited

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

Personal life and later years

Much of his subsequent life was spent with his wife Mary, in

Dalston Dalston () is an area of East London, in the London Borough of Hackney. It is northeast of Charing Cross. Dalston began as a hamlet on either side of Dalston Lane, and as the area urbanised the term also came to apply to surrounding areas i ...

and nearby Hackney, a short distance from London. His work from this later period (not considered his best) shows a Classical influence. Edward Calvert and his wife are buried at Abney Park Cemetery,

Stoke Newington Stoke Newington is an area in the northwest part of the London Borough of Hackney, England. The area is northeast of Charing Cross. The Manor of Stoke Newington gave its name to Stoke Newington (parish), Stoke Newington, the ancient parish. S ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

; the headstone reads ''He was welcomed in Helicon''.

Legacy

The

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

has some 65 of his drawings, and about 40 prints, as well as many of the printing blocks and plates for them. His third son, Samuel Calvert, was an artist and engraver active in Australia and produced a memoir of his father in 1893.Literature: An Unknown Artist
''The Australasian'' (Melbourne), 2 December 1893, page 36.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Calvert, Edward 1799 births 1883 deaths Artists from Bideford 19th-century English painters English male painters English printmakers English romantic painters English engravers British wood engravers Burials at Abney Park Cemetery People from Dalston 19th-century English male artists