A. R. Quinton

Alfred Robert Quinton

Alfred Robert Quinton (28 October 1853 – 10 December 1934)[1] was an English watercolour artist, known for his paintings of English and Welsh towns, villages, and landscapes, many of which were published as postcards.

Early life

Quinton was born in 1853 in Peckham, which was then a hamlet in Camberwell, Surrey,[2] the youngest of seven children of Elizabeth née Cullum (1818-1886) and John Allen Quinton (1817-1906), a printer, author and journalist.[1][3] In the summer of 1869, he was attending C. P. Newcombe's Alexandra Park College, Hornsey.[4] On leaving school, he studied painting at the Heatherley School of Fine Art.[1]

Career

Quinton's first work was as a steel engraver, but his ambition was to be a painter. About 1874, he began to work in oils, but soon switched to watercolour, working from a studio in Fleet Street, London, and then from one at Lincoln's Inn. In 1877, Quinton exhibited watercolours at the Royal Society of British Artists. He exhibited several of his watercolours with the Ipswich Fine Art Club in 1882 and 1883.[1]

Quinton with his art equipment strapped to his bicycle

In 1895, Quinton and a friend cycled from Land's End to John O'Groats, and Quinton's paintings resulting from the trip were serialised in the Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News. His artwork became more in demand and he was able to buy a house with a studio in Finchley, then in Middlesex. His work routine would be to travel around England and Wales for three months of the year, mostly during the summer months and often by bicycle, during which he would draw sketches and take photographs of locations which he would work up into paintings in his studio during the winter months. Many of his artworks were published as postcards by Raphael Tuck and J Salmon Ltd which remain popular with today's collectors. His paintings have also been published in many calendars. Well over 2,000 of his paintings were published between 1904 and the time of his death. He also illustrated a number of books including The Historic Thames by Hilaire Belloc.[1]

Quinton exhibited at the Birmingham Royal Society of British Artists; Dudley Gallery; Dowdeswell Gallery; Grosvenor Gallery; Liverpool Walker Art Gallery; Manchester City Art Gallery; the Royal Society of British Artists; Royal Hibernian Academy; Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colour and the Royal Institute of Oil Painters. He exhibited at the Royal Academy but he was later banned from exhibiting there as the authorities were not in favour of his 'commercialisation' of art. His original illustrations for the book The Historic Thames and two other of his paintings were bought by the Duke and Duchess of Kent.[1]

His works remain collectible, as reproduced on postcards, as the original watercolours for the postcards, and his other paintings in oil and watercolours. A large "limited" edition (of 10,000 copies) of Royal Worcester plates, hand-painted after his designs with village scenes, was issued in the 1950s.[5]

Personal life

Quinton married Elizabeth Annie Crompton (1858–1946) at Bolton, Lancashire, in May 1885[6] and with her had two sons: Leonard Quinton (1886-1981) and Edgar Allan Quinton (1891-1912).[2]

Quinton died in Finchley, Middlesex, on 10 December 1934, and left £9,228 2s 8d (equivalent to £827,505 in 2023) in his will to his widow and his surviving son.[7]

Illustrated books

Quinton's drawing of Cannon Hall, Hampstead, 1911

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Suffolk Artists - QUINTON, Alfred Robert". suffolkartists.co.uk. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
  2. ^ a b 1901 England Census for Alfred R Quinton, Middlesex, Finchley: Ancestry.com (subscription required)
  3. ^ 1881 England Census for Alfred R. Quinton, London, St Marys Islington, Islington East: Ancestry.com (subscription required)
  4. ^ "Local Gossip", Islington Gazette (London), Tuesday 17 August 1869, p. 2
  5. ^ Invaluable.com "ROYAL WORCESTER QUINTONS VILLAGES PORCELAIN PLATES"
  6. ^ Alfred Robert Quinton in the England, Select Marriages, 1538–1973: Ancestry.com (subscription required)
  7. ^ England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995 for Alfred Robert Quinton, 1935: Ancestry.com (subscription required)

Further reading

  • Quinton, A. R. The Rural England of A.R.Quinton (J. Salmon Ltd. 1990)
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