Henry Charles Brewer

Henry Charles Brewer (1866 - 1950) was a British painter well known in the first half of the 20th century for his watercolour landscapes and architectural paintings.[1]

The Cloister, Tarragona, Spain, by Henry Charles Brewer
‘St Paul’s from Warwick Lane and the space in front now cleared from the wreckage’ by Henry Charles Brewer (1942)
A figure of the Angel Gabriel, part of a scheme painted in 1928 by Henry Charles Brewer at St Peter's Church Ealing

Family & Early Life

Born in 1866 in Germany, Henry Charles Brewer was part of a family of leading professional artists. His father was the architectural illustrator Henry William Brewer, and his brother was brother to the creator of etchings, James Alphege Brewer.[2] Their grandfather was the historian John Sherren Brewer and their great uncle was E. Cobham Brewer, compiler of Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase & Fable.[3]

Professional Life

Brewer studied at Westminster School of Art with Frederick Brown and travelled extensively abroad in search of subjects, particularly to Spain and Italy, including Venice.[4] His watercolours are loose an atmospheric, and he particularly enjoyed skies at dawn and sunset.[5]

Brewer lived in London, where he painted numerous urban scenes,[2] He exhibited at the Fine Art Society and the Royal Academy between 1899 and 1902, and in 1913 the Royal Society of Arts awarded him its gold medal.[6] Brewer also participated in a number of exhibitions in Australia and New Zealand.[6]

A member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours, Brewer was elected to the Royal Institution of Great Britain in 1914.[2] He was also a member of the Society of Graphic Art.[3] In 1932 he held an exhibition of 'Watercolours of Venice & Northern Italy, held at the Fine Art Society.[7]

Brewer lived on Perryn Road in Acton. His brother, James Alphege also lived in Acton, and the artists collaborated on numerous paintings and were active in local artistic circles, including being members of the Ealing Arts club.[8] In 1928, he executed the notable wall paintings in the Lady Chapel of St Peter's Church, Ealing, around a reredos designed by Leonard Shuffrey.[9]

References
  1. Halsby, Julian (1999). texts Venice, the artist's vision : a guide to British and American painters. London: London : Unicorn. p. 188. ISBN 090629035X. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
  2. Bolton, R. 'Views of Russia and Russian Work on Paper', Sphinx Fine Art, 2010
  3. Dunham, Benjamin (2021). Etched in Memory: The Elevated Art of J. Alphege Brewer. Peacock Press. p. 9. ISBN 978-1914934131.
  4. Halsby, Julian (1999). texts Venice, the artist's vision : a guide to British and American painters. London: London : Unicorn. p. 188. ISBN 090629035X. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
  5. Halsby, Julian (1999). texts Venice, the artist's vision : a guide to British and American painters. London: London : Unicorn. p. 188. ISBN 090629035X. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
  6. 'Benezit Dictionary of British Graphic Artists and Illustrators, Volume 1', Oxford University Press, 2012
  7. Halsby, Julian (1999). texts Venice, the artist's vision : a guide to British and American painters. London: London : Unicorn. p. 188. ISBN 090629035X. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
  8. Dunham, Benjamin (2021). Etched in Memory: The Elevated Art of J. Alphege Brewer. Peacock Press. p. 10. ISBN 978-1914934131.
  9. Hayes, R. 'New & Old: A History of St Peter's Church Mount Park, Ealing', 1985
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