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Samuel Scott (Painter)

Oh, Samuel Scott. An English painter, apparently. Born around 1702 in the smog and ambition of London, and shuffled off this mortal coil in Bath, Somerset in 1772. Sixty-nine or seventy years. A decent run, I suppose, if you managed to avoid too many existential crises. He left behind one child. Lucky them.

Early Life

Scott, bless his artistic heart, decided to pick up a brush sometime around 1720. His artistic lineage is as murky as the Thames he so famously painted. No record of formal training, which, frankly, is a minor miracle given the era. He cut his teeth as a maritime artist, a painter of ships, specifically the grand men-of-war and their ilk, gliding across placid waters. A direct nod to Willem van de Velde, whose drawings, incidentally, Scott amassed. He even dabbled in a collaborative effort with George Lambert, a series of six paintings depicting East India Company settlements. Scott handled the vessels, Lambert the architecture and scenery. A division of labor, I suppose. Even George Vertue, in his 1733 pronouncements, deemed Scott one of London's "most elevated men in art." High praise, if you cared for such things. It was around this time that Thomas Hudson immortalized him in the Portrait of Samuel Scott. A fleeting moment of recognition, perhaps.

Then came the rather grandly named "Five days' Peregrination" in May 1732. A jaunt along the Medway estuary to the Isle of Sheppey, accompanied by the rather more boisterous William Hogarth and a few others. Ebenezer Forrest, bless his diligent soul, penned an account of their escapades, eventually published with engravings lifted from Hogarth and Scott's own sketches. Imagine the scene: artists, no doubt fueled by questionable ale and artistic fervor, documenting their own adventures.

The real shift, however, occurred in the early 1740s. Scott started sketching the ever-evolving landscape of London, particularly the rising edifice of Westminster Bridge. When Canaletto arrived in 1746, turning London views into a fashionable commodity, Scott saw his opportunity. He began translating those sketches into oil. His fascination with Old London Bridge resulted in at least eleven versions, the earliest dating from 1747. He even continued painting them after 1757, long after the picturesque, albeit hazardous, houses lining the bridge had been dismantled. These bridge paintings were often paired, a diptych of sorts, with depictions of the Tower of London or, naturally, Westminster Bridge. A calculated pairing, designed to appeal to a certain clientele.

Later Life

Between 1761 and 1771, Scott displayed his wares at various societies – the Society of Artists, the Free Society of artists. He even managed to snag a spot at the Royal Academy's Exhibition of 1771 with a piece titled The Thames and the Tower of London. While he was lauded by some as the "father of English watercolour," his primary output remained in oils. Some of his more dramatic works captured scenes from the War of Jenkins' Ear.

His reputation was built on those shore and river scenes, meticulously rendered and populated with lively figures. Horace Walpole, a collector of Scott's work, deemed them timeless, even stating that while Scott might have played second fiddle to Vandeveldt in sea pieces, he surpassed him in sheer variety. His Thames vistas, including views of London Bridge and the Custom-house Quay, earned him the rather flattering moniker "the English Canaletto." A high bar, indeed.

Scott resided at number 2 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, from 1747 to 1758, affording him views of the Piazza. He then relocated to Twickenham in 1758, followed by a stint in Ludlow with his daughter, before finally settling in Bath. It was there, in Walcot Street, succumbing to the indignity of gout, that he died on October 12, 1772. His considerable collection was auctioned off by Langford in January of the following year.

His legacy, such as it is, includes pupils like William Marlow and the animal painter Sawrey Gilpin. Marlow, in particular, carried on the tradition of Thames scenes, even inheriting Scott's former villa in Twickenham. A passing of the torch, or perhaps just a continuation of a profitable niche.

Gallery

A selection of his works, for those who appreciate such things: