Page:Dictionary of Artists of the English School (1878).djvu/362

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of Barry, he painted a large picture of 4 Adam and Eve.' In 1782 he obtained a premium from the Society of Arts; in

1783, the Academy silver medal ; and ? in

1784, the gold medal for his original paint- ing from 'The Tempest/ and was carried round the quadrangle of Somerset House on the shoulders of nis enthusiastic fellow- students, shouting, * Proctor ! Proctor ! '

He then tried modelling, and, as a sculptor, claims a high rank among British artists. He first produced his 'Ixion,' which he exhibited at the Academy in 1785 ; and the work was so warmly praised by the president of the Academy that it was purchased by Sir Abraham Hume, Bt. Thus encouraged, he set earnestly to work upon a larger subject, * Diomedes Devoured by his Horses/ a noble work, which, exhi- bited in 1786, attracted great admiration in the Academy, but unfortunately was unsold. It had cost him 12 months' labour. He had spent his small patrimony in the study of his profession, and not having the means to pay for a place where he might deposit his model, he destroyed it in a fit of sad despondency, and abandoned sculp- ture in despair. His first contributions to the Academy exhibitions, in 1780 and 1783, had been portraits : and in 1789 he again sent a portrait. Then, in 1790, continuing to paint, he exhibited ' Elisha and the Son of the Shunammite ' and ' The Restoration of Day after the Fall of Phaeton/ a sketch. In 1791, ' Hannah declines to accompany her Husband to the Yearly Sacrifice/ In 1792, 'Pirithous, the Son of Ixion, de- stroyed by Cerberus/ a group in plaster, and two portraits. Then reverting to painting, in 1793, 'The Final Separation of Jason and Medea/ and three portraits. In 1794, 'Venus approaching the Island of Cyprus.'

The period had now arrived for the Academy to elect a student to send to Rome, and Proctor was chosen. But for the last four years he had exhibited with- out giving an address, and his very abode was unknown. This was in 1793. The president, West, humanely sought him. He was in a miserable attic in Clare Market, had subsisted day by day on a penny roll with water from a neighbouring pump, but, unable to pay the pittance for his lodging, had wandered about till health quite gave way. The president immediately assisted him, cheered him, told him to prepare for his 'journey to Italy, and promised him kind introductions. But all too late. The broken-hearted man drooped, his mind was disturbed, and a few days later he was found in his solitary bed, where he had died unheeded. He was in his 41st year, and was buried in Hampstead Churchyard. Professor Westmacott, R.A.. exhibited his 'Ixion' and his group of 'Pirithous' at

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his lecture to the students, and expatiated upon them as the works of true genius.

PROUT, Samuel, water-colons painter. Was born at Plvmouth, September 17. 1783, and educated at the Grammar School of the town, and in art by a drawing- master established there. When a child he had suffered from a sunstroke, and was afterwards weak and ailing. A love of drawing was predominant. Chance threw him in the way of John Britton, who was collecting materials for his ' Beauties of England and Wales/ and the two went together into Cornwall— the young artist's expenses being defrayed in consideration of the service he might render. But his first attempts were very discouraging ; he cried over his failures, and after several efforts was compelled to return home. This was in the autumn of 1801. In the follow- ing May he sent Mr. Britton some sketches of old buildings, which proved he had made considerable progress ; and it was eventu- ally agreed that he should come to reside with him in Clerkenwell for two years, during which time he was employed in copy- ing after the best topographical draftsmen of the day.

In 1806 he returned home, chiefly on account of his ill-health. He had, in the previous year, first exhibited at the Royal Academy, and was, for the next 10 years, an occasional exhibitor ; his works chiefly views and coast scenes in Devonshire. In 1812 he came again to the Metropolis, and resided in Stockwell; and, improving in his art, he was, in 1815, an exhibitor, and, in 1820, elected a member of the Water- Colour Society. He at this period found employment as a teacher; and in 1816 Ackermann published in parts his ' Studies/ executed in lithography, followed by * Pro- gressive Fragments,' ( Rudiments of Land- scape/ ' Views in the North and West of England/ with other works calculated to assist in teaching. In 18 1 8 he was induced by increasing weak health to visit the Continent. He seemed naturally to have been led to marine subjects, but his early architectural employment for Mr. Britton had prepared him for the picturesque studies afforded by Havre and Rouen, and determined his future path in art ; and he soon became celebrated as the painter of the cathedrals, churches, and market- places of Normandy.

He was gifted with a strong feeling for the picturesque, and did not fail to seize the grand proportions of his buildings, but he was without sufficient knowledge to detail their beautiful tracery, marking only the general features with his broad reed- pen ; but in the arrangement of his picture — his groups of living figures, and various accessories sparkling in colour— he was un- rivalled. In 1824 ne visited Venice, and

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