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| Hercules Brabazon Brabazon by William Rothenstein c1895 saguine and pastel 25.4 x 20.3 cm National Portrait Gallery, London |
Hercules Brabazon Brabazon was born in Paris on 27 November 1821, the youngest son of Hercules Sharpe of County Durham and Ann Brabazon of County Mayo, Ireland. In 1832, the family returned to England and settled into their new country house, Oaklands, in Sussex, built for them by architect Decimus Burton.
Brabazon was educated at Dr Hooker’s preparatory school, until 1835, when he began an unhappy period at Harrow. This came to an end in 1837 when he transferred to a Pestalozzi School in Geneva. Three years later, he began to study mathematics at Trinity College, Cambridge. Following his graduation, he flouted his father’s wishes to read law and, as a result, travelled to Rome on a reduced allowance. There he studied music at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia, and art at the Accademia di San Lucca, and from then on concentrated on those two subjects. In 1847, his elder brother died, and he succeeded to the Brabazon estates in Connaught, by the terms of the will becoming Hercules Brabazon Brabazon.
On 24 May 1848, he left Rome and returned to England via Spain and France, encountering the work of Velasquez for the first time; after Turner, Velasquez became the artistic inspiration of his life. Following the death of his father in 1858, he also inherited the family estate in Sussex, and appointed his brother-in-law Major Combe to act as its manager. Brabazon spent the summers in England, and winters on the Riviera or travelling further afield. His major travels included a number of visits to the Middle East, North Africa and India.
Brabazon began to produce his atmospheric watercolours and pastels in the 1860s. Though he first appeared as a gentleman amateur, his unique talent was soon recognised by John Ruskin, and later by John Singer Sargent, so that he straddled artistic generations and approaches. In 1867, he was elected to the membership of the Burlington Fine Art Club alongside Dante Gabriele Rossetti and Ruskin and, in 1880, accompanied Ruskin, Arthur Severn and Arthur Ditchfield on a sketching tour of Amiens. Sargent met Brabazon in 1885, and was inspired by his work to turn to watercolour. In 1891, he succeeded in encouraging Brabazon to join the New English Art Club, and exhibit alongside its other members. His first solo show took place at the Goupil Gallery in the following year, and was a critical success. He attracted a following of younger artists, and counted Francis James as a pupil. He died at Oaklands on 14 May 1906.
This is part 1 of 7 on the works of Hercules Brabazon Brabazon:
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| c1848 C. Sartoris Esq. pencil, pen and ink 9.5 x 10.2 cm |
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| c1850 La Guidecca, Venice watercolour 17.8 x 24.1 cm Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| c1860-80 A Mosque in Cairo watercolour 31.4 x 22 cm approx Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| c1860 Houses at Tivoli watercolour, gouache and graphite on paper 25.4 x 36.8 cm Tate, London |
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| c1860 Mosque of Sidi Bou-Said chalk and gouache 17.6 x 25 cm Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| c1860 Portrait, half-length, of a Arab Man pencil 14.3 x 13.6 cm Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| c1863 A Campanile among Ruins gouache and watercolour with white heightening over graphite on wove paper 25.8 x 36 cm National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC |
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| c1868-78 Aboo Simbel watercolour 23.3 x 30.5 cm Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| 1869 Ships Lying Off Flushing, a Souvenir of Paul Jean Clays watercolour and gouache 21.6 x 26 cm |
The original painting by Paul Jean Clays:
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| Ships Lying Off Flushing by Paul Jean Clays 1869 oil on wood 59.9 x 86.8 cm The National Gallery, London |
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| 1870-76 The Gardens of the Taj Mahal watercolour 22.6 x 11.3 cm Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| c1870-80 Street Scene in Delhi watercolour 22.3 x 28.7 cm Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| c1875 At Sunrise: View from the Artist's Window in Morpeth Terrace watercolour 25.4 x 35.5 cm Victoria and Albert Museum, London |
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| c1880 Florence oil on canvas 27.9 x 43.2 cm Yale Centre for British Art, New Haven, CT |
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| c1880 Picquigny (The Somme, France) watercolour 18.2 x 26.1 cm Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| c1885 Venice by Moonlight watercolour 20 x 26.5 cm Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA |
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| c1887 Roses gouache on paper 34.3 x 24.1 cm Tate, London |
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| 1888 A Detail from Las Meninas, a Souvenir of Velazquez watercolour and gouache 26 x 22 cm |
The original painting by Velazquez:
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| Las Meninas by Velázquez Diego Rodrguez de Silva Y 1656 oil on canvas 318 x 276 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid |
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| 1890 Morning on Lake Lucerne watercolour 37.5 x 43 cm Gallery Oldham, Lancs., UK |
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| c1890 Landscape with Industrial Buildings by a River oil on board 22.9 x 30.5 cm Yale Centre for British Art, New Haven, CT |
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| c1890 The Grand Canal, Venice gouache on paper 14.6 x 26 cm Tate, London |
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| c1890 Venice: Street Scene pencil and watercolour 19 x 25.3 cm British Museum, London |
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| c1892 The Pink Palace gouache on paper 24.1 x 34.9 cm Tate, London |
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| 1903 View of an Italian Town watercolour 25.4 x 36.2 cm Private Collection |
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| n.d View of the Sea from the Beach, Algiers watercolour 21.3 x 35.2 cm The British Museum, London |
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| n.d Windmills on the Dutch Coast pastel |
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| n.d. ‘Dr Johnson’ after Sir Joshua Reynolds watercolour and gouache 29.2 x 22.2 cm |
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| Doctor Samuel Johnson by Sir Joshua Reynolds c1772 oil on canvas 75.6 x 62.2 cm Tate, London |
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| n.d. A Bazar in Cairo pencil and watercolour 16.5 x 18.5 cm Private Collection |
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| n.d. A Bridge watercolour 18.9 x 25.1 cm Yale Centre for British Art, New Haven, CT |
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| n.d. A Busy Street Scene watercolour 21 x 27 cm Private Collection |
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| n.d. A Calm Day watercolour and pastel 21 x 26 cm |
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| n.d. A Castle on a Hill, a Souvenir of Turner pastel |
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| n.d. A Castle on the Rhine watercolour and gouache 25 x 29 cm |
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| n.d. A Cloud Over Venice 15.2 x 22.9 cm |
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| n.d. A Coastal Landscape watercolour and gouache 11 x 19 cm |
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| n.d. A Cornfield at Sunset watercolour 20.7 x 25.2 cm National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC |
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| n.d. A Gondola Passing Under a Bridge in Venice watercolour and gouache over pencil on wove paper 23.2 x 26.2 cm National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC |
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| n.d. A Grey Day, Venice gouache on board 21 x 31.8 cm Tate, London |
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| n.d. A Market in Karachi, Pakistan pencil and watercolour 11.7 x 15.7 cm Private Collection |
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| n.d. A Mediterranean Harbour pastel 16.5 x 22.2 cm |
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| n.d. A Middle Eastern Bazar watercolour 22 x 28 cm Private Collection |
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| n.d. A Moorish Citadel watercolour 23 x 16.3 cm Yale Centre for British Art, New Haven, CT |
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| n.d. A Mosque, Place Bab-Souika, Tunis pencil and watercolour 24.1 x 34.8 cm Private Collection |
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| n.d. A Mountain View watercolour 30.2 x 22.5 cm Yale Centre for British Art, New Haven, CT |
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| n.d. A Park watercolour 25.4 x 35.6 cm Yale Centre for British Art, New Haven, CT |
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| n.d. A Rose watercolour and gouache 24.2 x 15.9 cm |
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| n.d. A Seapiece, after Turner pastel 7.6 x 15.2 cm |
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| n.d. A Souvenir of Manet pencil and chalk on tinted paper 24.2 x 21.6 cm ( Manet reference not found ) |
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| n.d. A Street in Hamburg, Germany pencil and crayon on paper 23.2 x 26.2 cm National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin |