Lake District Scene,
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Research by Hilary Alcock and Marjorie Gregson
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Acc No 114 Artist Edward Tucker Senior Artist dates 1825-1909 Medium watercolour Size 12.7 x 21 cm (5.00 x 8.25 in) Date painted c1880 Donor Emily Green (1868-1951) 19 York Road, Lytham St Annes Date donated 21 January 1952 Emily also donated another painting by Tucker Lake District Scene, View of Langdale Pikes Acc No 126 2 by E Myers Coastal Scene with Shipping Acc No 125 Coastal Scene with Shipping Acc No 129 2 by George Baxter Lake Lucerne June 1857 Acc No 122 North Italian Lakes Acc no 124 - unlocated at present time |
ARTIST
Descended from a Devonshire family, Edward Tucker was born in London c1816, his father being a barrister. At the outset of his career he was placed under the instruction of Thomas A Woolnoth, a renowned engraver of the day. However, his artistic ability developed in another direction and he rose to considerable eminence as a painter, excelling in both landscapes and seascapes. Tucker also spent much of his time sketching on the Continent. He counted William Etty, the artist, amongst his friends from his early days as a painter.
He married Julia Mary Maile, a fellow artist and they had five sons, all of whom were taught to paint by their parents. In order not to be confused with their father, three of them were known by other names. Because of this confusion many art websites vary in the dates of Edward Senior’s birth and death but census returns and obituary notices are more reliable.
Edward Tucker Junior 1848-1909 (Edward Arden)
Alfred Robert Tucker 1849-1914 (Alfred Maile) Bishop of Uganda
Hubert Tucker 1851-1921 (Hubert Coutts)
Frederick Tucker 1854-1935
Arthur Bristol Tucker 1864-1929
According to Arthur P Shepherd, Alfred Maile’s biographer, "the boys all worked together in one large studio under the criticism of their parents and the frank comments of one another, and their artistic talents developed rapidly”. As their parents didn’t have enough income the family moved from place to place in order to make a living. Around 1865 Edward Senior took up residence in the Lake District, living in Langdale for many years before moving to Windermere, where he became known as the “Artist of Windermere”. Four of his sons were founder members of The Lake Artists Society and Hubert was its first President. Alfred had joined the church, became a Canon of Durham Cathedral and later Bishop of Uganda.
Edward worked mainly in watercolours and several of his paintings were hung in the Royal Academy. Art historians are frequently unsure which paintings should be attributed to father and which to son. There is an oil painting attributed to Edward Tucker in Dartmouth Museum labelled Dartmouth Harbour from Castle Walk, Devon 1835. This was purchased by The Friends of Dartmouth Borough Museum for £240 from a London gallery in 1963. The chairman of Dartmouth Museum, Commander David Lingard, informed us that there is some doubt over the artist’s name and date as, according to one of their members, the artist was Edwin Tucker.
Edward’s obituary in the Westmorland Gazette of 18 June 1898 stated that he was a man “devoted to his art and being of a modest and gentle disposition, he took little or no part in public affairs”. He was buried in Windermere Cemetery, the officiating clergy being from
St John’s Church, Bowness in Windermere, which he had attended.
PAINTING
A fine view across the Lake to the Vale of Grasmere and Dunmail Raise captured probably from a vantage point on Rydal Terrace. On visiting the Lakes in the 1760s the poet Thomas Gray described it as “ One of the sweetest landscapes that art ever attempted to imitate…………..not a single red tile, no gentleman’s flaring house or garden walls, break in upon the repose of this little unsuspected paradise; but all is peace, rusticity and happy poverty, in its neatest and most becoming attire”.
Landscape painting as an art form in its own right was not a popular focus for artists during the 17th and 18th centuries. Portraits were still considered to be the main occupation of the working painter, and landscape was viewed merely as background to these and to historical and classical paintings. However, a new movement was to change this which was the concept of the Picturesque. For the first time landscape and the natural environment were made prominent as a focus for both painting and poetry.
In the 19th century the arrival of the railway in the Lakes altered the landscape immeasurably. Terraced houses, villas, country mansions, shops, hotels etc sprang up across the area. This offered artists new paid opportunities to paint the dramatic scenery, the changing light, the towering fells and the tumbling waterfalls and mood changing lakes. They were commissioned alongside artisans to create artworks to adorn the new homes and buildings, and Arts and Crafts enterprises were successfully established. Links were created between painters and the latter, and a colony of artists was established with The Lake Artists Society being established in 1904 with the Tuckers as founder members. Its objective was to promote its members’ works.
The Society is still one of the most prestigious regional art societies in the country and is just as active today. Over the years it has included many widely acclaimed artists amongst its members, such as William Heaton Cooper, Sheila Fell, S J Lamorna Birch, Russell Flint, Claude Harrison and more recently, the award winning Martin Greenland.
REFERENCES
“The Lake Artists Society” by Jane Renouf
www.findmypast.co.uk/census/newspapers
Westmorland Gazette, 18 June 1898
www.artuk.org
http://dartmouthmuseum.org
Descended from a Devonshire family, Edward Tucker was born in London c1816, his father being a barrister. At the outset of his career he was placed under the instruction of Thomas A Woolnoth, a renowned engraver of the day. However, his artistic ability developed in another direction and he rose to considerable eminence as a painter, excelling in both landscapes and seascapes. Tucker also spent much of his time sketching on the Continent. He counted William Etty, the artist, amongst his friends from his early days as a painter.
He married Julia Mary Maile, a fellow artist and they had five sons, all of whom were taught to paint by their parents. In order not to be confused with their father, three of them were known by other names. Because of this confusion many art websites vary in the dates of Edward Senior’s birth and death but census returns and obituary notices are more reliable.
Edward Tucker Junior 1848-1909 (Edward Arden)
Alfred Robert Tucker 1849-1914 (Alfred Maile) Bishop of Uganda
Hubert Tucker 1851-1921 (Hubert Coutts)
Frederick Tucker 1854-1935
Arthur Bristol Tucker 1864-1929
According to Arthur P Shepherd, Alfred Maile’s biographer, "the boys all worked together in one large studio under the criticism of their parents and the frank comments of one another, and their artistic talents developed rapidly”. As their parents didn’t have enough income the family moved from place to place in order to make a living. Around 1865 Edward Senior took up residence in the Lake District, living in Langdale for many years before moving to Windermere, where he became known as the “Artist of Windermere”. Four of his sons were founder members of The Lake Artists Society and Hubert was its first President. Alfred had joined the church, became a Canon of Durham Cathedral and later Bishop of Uganda.
Edward worked mainly in watercolours and several of his paintings were hung in the Royal Academy. Art historians are frequently unsure which paintings should be attributed to father and which to son. There is an oil painting attributed to Edward Tucker in Dartmouth Museum labelled Dartmouth Harbour from Castle Walk, Devon 1835. This was purchased by The Friends of Dartmouth Borough Museum for £240 from a London gallery in 1963. The chairman of Dartmouth Museum, Commander David Lingard, informed us that there is some doubt over the artist’s name and date as, according to one of their members, the artist was Edwin Tucker.
Edward’s obituary in the Westmorland Gazette of 18 June 1898 stated that he was a man “devoted to his art and being of a modest and gentle disposition, he took little or no part in public affairs”. He was buried in Windermere Cemetery, the officiating clergy being from
St John’s Church, Bowness in Windermere, which he had attended.
PAINTING
A fine view across the Lake to the Vale of Grasmere and Dunmail Raise captured probably from a vantage point on Rydal Terrace. On visiting the Lakes in the 1760s the poet Thomas Gray described it as “ One of the sweetest landscapes that art ever attempted to imitate…………..not a single red tile, no gentleman’s flaring house or garden walls, break in upon the repose of this little unsuspected paradise; but all is peace, rusticity and happy poverty, in its neatest and most becoming attire”.
Landscape painting as an art form in its own right was not a popular focus for artists during the 17th and 18th centuries. Portraits were still considered to be the main occupation of the working painter, and landscape was viewed merely as background to these and to historical and classical paintings. However, a new movement was to change this which was the concept of the Picturesque. For the first time landscape and the natural environment were made prominent as a focus for both painting and poetry.
In the 19th century the arrival of the railway in the Lakes altered the landscape immeasurably. Terraced houses, villas, country mansions, shops, hotels etc sprang up across the area. This offered artists new paid opportunities to paint the dramatic scenery, the changing light, the towering fells and the tumbling waterfalls and mood changing lakes. They were commissioned alongside artisans to create artworks to adorn the new homes and buildings, and Arts and Crafts enterprises were successfully established. Links were created between painters and the latter, and a colony of artists was established with The Lake Artists Society being established in 1904 with the Tuckers as founder members. Its objective was to promote its members’ works.
The Society is still one of the most prestigious regional art societies in the country and is just as active today. Over the years it has included many widely acclaimed artists amongst its members, such as William Heaton Cooper, Sheila Fell, S J Lamorna Birch, Russell Flint, Claude Harrison and more recently, the award winning Martin Greenland.
REFERENCES
“The Lake Artists Society” by Jane Renouf
www.findmypast.co.uk/census/newspapers
Westmorland Gazette, 18 June 1898
www.artuk.org
http://dartmouthmuseum.org
