John Samuel Raven (21 August 1829 – 13 June 1877) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

landscape

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 ...

Life

Raven was born in

Preston, Lancashire Preston () is a city on the north bank of the River Ribble in Lancashire, England. The city is the administrative centre of the county of Lancashire and the wider City of Preston, Lancashire, City of Preston local government district. Preston ...

''1851 England Census'' on 21 August 1829. He was the son of the Rev. Thomas Raven, a clergyman of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

, who had considerable talent as an amateur artist, as may be seen from six water-colour drawings by him in the

South Kensington Museum South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz' ...

. John Raven was, however, almost entirely self-taught, initially by studying the works of

John Crome John Crome (22 December 176822 April 1821), once known as Old Crome to distinguish him from his artist son John Berney Crome, was an English Landscape painting, landscape painter of the Romanticism, Romantic era, one of the principal artists ...

and

John Constable John Constable (; 11 June 1776 – 31 March 1837) was an English landscape painter in the Romanticism, Romantic tradition. Born in Suffolk, he is known principally for revolutionising the genre of landscape painting with his pictures of Dedha ...

. He exhibited at the

Academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

as early as 1845, and his works also appeared at the

British Institution The British Institution (in full, the British Institution for Promoting the Fine Arts in the United Kingdom; founded 1805, disbanded 1867) was a private 19th-century society in London formed to exhibit the works of living and dead artists; it ...

. This part of his career was focused on views of the area where he lived, near St. Leonards. He at first fell under the influence of the

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

school, but his maturer works, which show much poetic feeling, bear traces of pre-Raphaelitism. It was his custom to prepare elaborate cartoons for his pictures. He was drowned while bathing at

Harlech Harlech () is a seaside resort and community (Wales), community in Gwynedd, North Wales, and formerly in the Historic counties of Wales, historic county of Merionethshire. It lies on Tremadog Bay in the Snowdonia National Park. Before 1966, it ...

in 1877. He married Margaret Sinclair Dunbar in 1869, later Mrs. William B. Morris.

Works

A collection of his works was exhibited at the

Burlington Fine Arts Club The Burlington Fine Arts Club (established 1866; dissolved 1952) was a London gentlemen's club based at 17 Savile Row. The club had its roots in the informal Fine Arts Club, a gathering of amateur art enthusiasts, founded by John Charles Robin ...

in 1878. Amongst his chief pictures were: *''Salmsey Church'' (his first picture, painted when he was sixteen years old) *''The Forest of Fontainebleau'', 1853 *''A Voice of Joy and Gladness'', 1860 *''The Skirts of a Mountain Farm'', 1862 *''Midsummer Moonlight'', 1866 *''The Crops Green'', 1867 *''The Shadow of Snowden'', 1867 *''Summer Evening'', 1870 *''A Hampshire Homestead'', 1872 *''The Heavens declare the Glory of God'', 1876 *''Barff and Lord's Seat from the Slopes of Skiddaw'', 1877 Th''e

Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

,'' 1900, summarised his catalogue as "chiefly in oils, but occasionally also in water-colours, and … many fine studies in black and white", noting works above and, * 'Lago Maggiore from Stresa,' 1871; * 'Fresh fallen Snow on the Matterhorn,' 1872; * 'The lesser Light to rule the Night,' 1873; * 'Twilight in the Wood' (engraved by C. Cousen for the 'Art Journal,’ 1874);

References

Attribution: * {{DEFAULTSORT:Raven, John Samuel 1829 births 1877 deaths English landscape painters Artists from Hastings Deaths by drowning in the United Kingdom Accidental deaths in England 19th-century English painters People from Preston, Lancashire