William Westall was born in Hertford; the son of a brewer and brother of Richard, RA. He enrolled at the Royal Academy schools in 1799 and was later draughtsman for a voyage to Australia and the South Seas. After being shipwrecked he travelled to Canton in China and to India, staying in Bombay for several months. He returned to England in 1805 but later set off for Madeira and Jamaica. He became a member of the Society of Painters in Water Colours (1811) and an associate of the Academy (1812). Following a mental breakdown he regularly visited the Lake District and published ‘Views of the Valley and Vale of Keswick’ (1820). His series of aquatints of the Thames, universities and public schools for Ackermann are among his most popular works.

Places

England, Eton, Berkshire

Subjects

topography, townscape/cityscape, Victorian Genre, tree, river, boy, woman, student, field, path

Materials & Techniques

lithograph, colour lithograph

Artist

Charles Joseph Hullmandel (1789 - 1850)
William Westall (1781 - 1850)

Title

Near Eton College. In the Play Fields

Date

published 1 December 1821

Medium

Colour lithograph

Acquisition

Purchased from Geoffrey Glynn, August 1960

GAC number

5326