Samuel Prout, 1783-1852

Samuel Prout was one of the first artists to specialize in continental views. In the early 1820s he popularized the scenery of the grand tour- Normandy, the Rhine, the Low Countries, Switzerland and Italy, particularly Venice- with a wider public, through the print trade and his books of engravings and lithographs. George IV appointed him 'Painter in Water-Colours in Ordinary' in 1829, and Prout continued to enjoy royal patronage. His especial skill in depicting architectural subjects won him the admiration of Ruskin, who was to become a personal friend. Yet since the end of the nineteenth century Prout's work has received relatively little attention from art historians."--Publisher description.