Sidney Richard Percy (22 March 1822 – 13 April 1886) was an English landscape painter during the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edward ...

, and a member of the Williams family of painters.

Biography

Life and career

Sidney Richard Percy was born Sidney Richard Percy Williams on 22 March 1822 in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. The 1895 edition of the
Dictionary of National Biography
' gives Percy's birth date as 1821?, and subsequent biographers gave credence to this date by inadvertently removing the question mark. However, Percy's tombstone in Beckenham Cemetery has a birth date embossed on it of 22 March 1822, which is considered the more reliable date as this tombstone was erected under the direction of Percy's wife and two surviving children. He was the fifth son of the painter Edward Williams (1781–1855) and Ann Hildebrandt (c.1780-1851), and a member of the Williams family of painters, who were related to such famous artists as James Ward, R.A. and

George Morland George Morland (26 June 176329 October 1804) was an English painter. His early work was influenced by Francis Wheatley, but after the 1790s he came into his own style. His best compositions focus on rustic scenes: farms and hunting; smugglers a ...

. His father was a well-known landscape artist, who taught him how to paint; otherwise he received no formal instruction. Although his early paintings were signed "Sidney Williams", he used the name "Percy" from the age of 20 onwards to differentiate himself from the other artists in his family. Starting in 1842, he exhibited at the

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

(65 works), 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 w ...

(48 works), and the Suffolk Street Gallery of the

Society of British Artists The Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) is a British art body established in 1823 as the Society of British Artists, as an alternative to the Royal Academy. History The RBA commenced with twenty-seven members, and took until 1876 to reach fif ...

(67 works). He also exhibited in many of the lesser-known Victorian art venues as well. His early years were spent in or near the artist's quarter of

Tottenham Court Tottenham Court Road (occasionally abbreviated as TCR) is a major road in Central London, almost entirely within the London Borough of Camden. The road runs from Euston Road in the north to St Giles Circus in the south; Tottenham Court Road ...

, before moving about 1846 with his family to

Barnes Barnes may refer to: People *Barnes (name), a family name and a given name (includes lists of people with that name) Places United Kingdom *Barnes, London, England ** Barnes railway station ** Barnes Bridge railway station **Barnes Railway Brid ...

on the outskirts of London. Here he lived and worked with his father and brothers in a communal artist setting in a large house with a studio that they shared at 32 Castelnau Villas. Barnes today is part of the urban sprawl of London, but much of it was rural countryside in Victorian times. Situated close to the

Thames River The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the ...

, there were quiet marshes beneath windmills, farms where horses pulled plows, and wheel-rutted dirt roads running past country inns or through shaded glens. These were the scenes that the Williams brothers captured on canvas during their early years as painters, but as Sidney Richard Percy matured as a landscape painter he increasingly sought his inspiration in Northern Wales,

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

, the Lake District and

Skye The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye (; gd, An t-Eilean Sgitheanach or ; sco, Isle o Skye), is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated ...

. He moved after his 1857 marriage to the Florence Villas on Inner Park Road in

Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Toponymy Wandsworth takes its name ...

, Surrey, and then moved his family about 1863 to ''Hill House'' in the village of

Great Missenden Great Missenden is an affluent village with approximately 2,000 residents in the Misbourne Valley in the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire, England, situated between the towns of Amersham and Wendover, with direct rail connections to London M ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-eas ...

. Hill House was well placed for painting forays into the English countryside, situated as it was across from the Misbourne Valley. He was extremely popular during these years, which brought him sufficient income to indulge the extravagant tastes of his wife, which included a carriage and several servants. Percy traveled in 1865 to

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

with his friend and neighbor the water colour artist

William Callow William Callow (1812–1908) was an English landscape painter, engraver and water colourist. Career Callow was born in Greenwich on 28 July 1812. He was apprenticed to the artist Copley Fielding, where he learnt the technique of ''plein air' ...

(1812–1908), and returned visiting Switzerland and

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

. Although war between

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

and

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

in 1866 put an end to these travels, he returned home to ample artistic inspiration in the Welsh countryside, where he spent many days painting in and around the villages of

Llanbedr Llanbedr () is a village and community south of Harlech. Administratively, it lies in the Ardudwy area, formerly Meirionnydd, of the county of Gwynedd, Wales. History Ancient monuments at Llanbedr include Neolithic standing stones; the ...

and

Arthog Arthog () is a village, post town and community in the Meirionnydd area in Gwynedd, north Wales including the villages of Fairbourne and Friog. It is located on the A493, approximately west of Dolgellau, and had a population of 1,010 in 20 ...

, on either side of the

Mawddach The Afon Mawddach ( en, River Mawddach, italic=yes) is a river in Gwynedd, Wales, which has its source in a wide area north of Dduallt in Snowdonia. It is 28 miles (45 km) in length, and is much branched; many of the significant tribut ...

estuary in

Merioneth , HQ= Dolgellau , Government= Merionethshire County Council (1889-1974) , Origin= , Status= , Start= 1284 , End= , Code= MER , CodeName= ...

. He also made painting forays to the

Scottish Highlands The Highlands ( sco, the Hielands; gd, a’ Ghàidhealtachd , 'the place of the Gaels') is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland ...

. He spent his final years at 34 Mulgrave Road in

Sutton, Surrey Sutton is the principal town in the London Borough of Sutton in South London, England. It lies on the lower slopes of the North Downs, and is the administrative headquarters of the Outer London borough. It is south-south west of Charing Cross ...

, where his knee was injured when he was thrown from a horse in a riding accident. When his leg had to be amputated as a consequence, he died prematurely on 13 April 1886 at his home of a heart attack due complications from the operation. He was buried at Beckenham Cemetery in Kent. Though once quite wealthy, his finances at the time of his death were no longer robust, and his widow had to be supported in her final years by her son-in-law.

Marriage and children

Sidney Richard Percy Williams married Emily Charlotte Fairlam (1835–1904), the daughter of Richard Fairlam, on 30 June 1857 in the Barnes Parish Church. He and Emily had four children. #Gordon Fairlam Percy Williams (12 April 1858,

, Surrey − 12 Sept 1870,

Westhampnett Westhampnett (or West Hampnett) is a village and civil parish in the district of Chichester in West Sussex, England, located northeast of Chichester on the former A27 road, now by-passed. The village is pre-Norman and is home to many listed bui ...

, West Sussex) #Edith Maude Percy Williams (14 April 1859,

, Surrey − 1883,

Epsom, Surrey Epsom is the principal town of the Borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Saxon landowner. ...

) # Amy Dora Percy Williams (6 October 1860,

, Surrey − 11 June 1957,

Grange-over-Sands Grange-over-Sands is a town and civil parish located on the north side of Morecambe Bay in Cumbria, England, a few miles south of the Lake District National Park. In the 2001 census the parish had a population of 4,042, increasing at the 2 ...

, Cumbria) # Herbert Sidney Percy Williams (18 Feb 1863,

, Buckinghamshire − 8 Oct 1932,

Hammersmith, London Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. It ...

) Sidney Richard Percy's daughter Amy Dora Percy exhibited one painting at the Royal Academy, and married the chemist Richard Freshfield Reynolds (1860–1907), but she is best known for a collection of poems and several novels she wrote as Mrs. Fred Reynolds. Her brother Herbert Sidney Percy (1863–1932) studied at the

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

, where he won two silver medals in painting, and exhibited one painting at the Academy. He became a professional artist whose portraits and miniatures hang in the homes of many prominent English families. He also painted landscapes, and illustrated books, particularly those of his close friend

G.K. Chesterton Gilbert Keith Chesterton (29 May 1874 – 14 June 1936) was an English writer, philosopher, Christian apologist, and literary and art critic. He has been referred to as the "prince of paradox". Of his writing style, ''Time'' observed: " ...

The Williams family

Sidney Richard Percy was born into an artist family that is sometimes referred to as the

Barnes School Barnes School, Deolali, is a boarding school in west India. It was established in 1925, on the basis of a 1718 original foundation. It is a private co-educational prep school. It is an Anglican school, founded in 1925, under the auspices of ...

. His father and five surviving brothers (listed below) were all noted landscape painters during the

. Percy was one of three of the sons of Edward Williams who changed their last names to protect the identity of their art. * Edward Williams (father) * Edward Charles Williams * Henry John Boddington * George Augustus Williams *

Arthur Gilbert Arthur Gilbert (19 December 1819 – 21 April 1895) was an English landscape painter during the Victorian era, and a member of the Williams family of painters. Biography Arthur Gilbert was born Arthur Gilbert Frederick Williams on 19 Dece ...

Alfred Walter Williams Alfred Walter Williams (18 July 1824 – 16 December 1905) was an English landscape painter during the Victorian era, and a member of the Williams family of painters. Biography Alfred Walter Williams was born on 18 July 1824 in Southwark, L ...

Art

Influence

Sidney Richard Percy had his greatest success painting landscapes of grazing cattle, typically set against backgrounds of distant mountains and cloudy skies. The prevailing hues of his landscapes are earth tones and soft greens, accentuated by a variety of pastel hues. The detail in his work is part of its appeal, and ''"it was remarked that his rocks and stones were sufficiently accurate to have served as illustrations to the writings of Sir Roderick Murchison, the popular 19th-century geologist."''Reynolds (1975), p. 33. ''Llyn-y-Ddinas, North Wales'', one of his more popular works on the internet, displays these qualities. He also painted landscapes of farm fields, wheel-rutted country roads, and the occasional boat scene on a lake. His art interests were not limited to painting, and he was also an amateur photographer, in a day when photography was new and exciting, yet still a poorly understood medium. He frequently used his own photographs of gypsies in the Barnes or Wimbledon Common as the basis for similar figures in his paintings, even though some contemporary critics complained how these figures ruined what otherwise would be delightful landscapes. A classic example is ''Storm Gathering on Cader Idris, North Wales'', which he exhibited in 1856 at the

, and which has the same gypsy girls in it as one of seven of his photographs in the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and ...

. In fact, this painting is one of the ones singled out for some of the aforementioned criticism. These same girls appear in his 1861 work ''A Rest on the Roadside'', and they appear again, but reversed, in his 1873 version of ''Llyn-y-Ddinas, North Wales'', showing that he repeated themes when convenient. Although he generally painted in oils, a number of small watercolors on cardboard exist, typically unsigned, that are his work. The family, and his son the painter Herbert Sidney Percy in particular, referred to these as ''"potboilers"'', meaning that they were quickly, and often crudely executed, yet easily and cheaply sold "to put food on the table" when working on larger, more time-consuming oils for exhibition, or commissions. Many of these watercolor "potboilers" were done in the field, and then brought back to the studio to refer to when executing a more formal oil on canvas. Sidney Richard Percy was extremely popular during the early part of his career, which for a short time brought him a fair amount of income. Among his patrons during this time was Prince Albert the Royal consort who in 1854 gave Percy's landscape of ''A view of Llyn Dulyn, North Wales,'' which had just been exhibited at the

, as a gift to his wife

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

. This painting still hangs today in the

Royal Collection The Royal Collection of the British royal family is the largest private art collection in the world. Spread among 13 occupied and historic royal residences in the United Kingdom, the collection is owned by King Charles III and overseen by the ...

. Unfortunately Sidney Richard Percy outlived his popularity, and the art world was more excited about

impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passa ...

and other styles than landscapes when he died. Today though, his work is much sought after, and his better paintings bring much higher prices in auction than any of those of his brethren in the Williams family. However, a drop in demand over recent decades for Victorian landscapes has been reported. This is illustrated by the Percy oil painting ‘’Loch Lomond’’. It was sold for £35,200 at Christie’s (London) Victorian Pictures sale on 2 June 1989, followed by £70,000 on 6 October 1993 at an English gallery. In contrast the most recent price was £17,700 on 10 January 2018 at Stroud’s Auction Rooms (Gloucester, UK).

When the

Athenaeum Athenaeum may refer to: Books and periodicals * ''Athenaeum'' (German magazine), a journal of German Romanticism, established 1798 * ''Athenaeum'' (British magazine), a weekly London literary magazine 1828–1921 * ''The Athenaeum'' (Acadia U ...

in 1886 (i. 592) ran an obituary for Sidney Richard Percy they called him, ''"the well-known and popular painter, founder of the so-called School of Barnes . . ."''Graves (1895), v. 44, p. 429. Although depending on the context of what is meant by the so-called Barnes School, this is a bit of an injustice to his father Edward Williams, whom it might be argued is the founder of the Barnes School of painters, but it illustrates the popularity that Sidney Richard Percy held with the art-buying public of his day.

Paintings

Some further examples of his work (arranged chronologically). Image:Sidney Richard Percy02.jpg, ''The Angler's Corner'', 1851 File:Sidney Richard Percy01.jpg, ''Near Bettwys-y-Coed'', 1869 File:Sidney Richard Percy Carn Dearg and Ben Nevis from Achintee.jpg, ''Carn Dearg and Ben Nevis from Achintee'', 1874 File:Sidney Richard Percy22.jpg, ''Grizedale, Westmorland'', 1883 File:Sidney Richard Percy - Road Across the Common, 1851.jpg, ''The road across the Common'', 1851 File:Sidney Richard Percy - A Rest on The Roadside 1861.jpg, ''A rest on the roadside'', 1861 File:Sidney Richard Percy Llyn-y-Ddinas North Wales.jpg, ''Llyn-y-Ddinas, North Wales'', 1873 File:Sidney Richard Percy - Loch Scavaig 1883.jpg, ''Loch Scavaig, Isle of Skye'', 1883

Museums

Museum and Art Gallery A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

, Salford, England * Castle Museum and Art Gallery, Nottingham, England *Collection of Her Majesty the Queen, (

Osborne House Osborne House is a former royal residence in East Cowes, Isle of Wight, United Kingdom. The house was built between 1845 and 1851 for Queen Victoria and Albert, Prince Consort, Prince Albert as a summer home and rural retreat. Albert designed ...

on the Isle of Wight), England *

Ferens Art Gallery The Ferens Art Gallery is an art gallery in the English city of Kingston upon Hull. The site and money for the gallery were donated to the city by Thomas Ferens, after whom it is named. The architects were S. N. Cooke and E. C. Dav ...

, Kingston-upon-Hull, England (two paintings) *

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA; french: Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, MBAM) is an art museum in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the largest art museum in Canada by gallery space. The museum is located on the historic Golden Squ ...

, Montreal, Canada *

Maharaja Fateh Singh Museum Maharaja Fateh Singh Museum is a museum housed within the Maharaja's palace (the Lakshmi Vilas Palace) in Vadodara, India. Overview The building was constructed as a school for the Maharaja's children. Today a large number of works of art bel ...

, Baroda, India (two paintings) * Mappin Art Gallery, Sheffield, England *

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 100 ...

, New York, United States *

, Sunderland, England *

National Museum of Wales National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

, Cardiff, Wales *

New Walk Museum The Leicester Museum & Art Gallery (until 2020, New Walk Museum and Art Gallery) is a museum on New Walk in Leicester, England, not far from the city centre. It opened in 1849 as one of the first public museums in the United Kingdom. Leiceste ...

, Leicester, England (two paintings) *

Tate Gallery, London Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

, England * Temple Newsam House, Leeds, England *

Victoria Art Gallery The Victoria Art Gallery is a public art museum in Bath, Somerset, England. It was opened in 1900 to commemorate Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee. It is a Grade II* listed building and houses over 1,500 objects of art including a collection of ...

, Bath, England (2 paintings) *

Wolverhampton Art Gallery Wolverhampton Art Gallery is located in the City of Wolverhampton, in the West Midlands, United Kingdom. The building was funded and constructed by local contractor Philip Horsman (1825–1890), and built on land provided by the municipal aut ...

, West Midlands, England

Notes

References

* * * * * *

External links

Genealogy of the Percy, Williams and Ward families
*Sidney Richard Percy biography o
Richard Green Gallery
*Sidney Richard Percy biography and paintings o
World Classic Gallery
*Paintings by Sidney Richard Percy in British Museums o
Art UK
*Paintings by Sidney Richard Percy o
Wikigallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Percy, Sidney Richard 1821 births 1886 deaths 19th-century English painters English male painters Landscape artists People from Somers Town, London 19th-century English male artists