Henry Calvert (artist)

This article is about the British artist. For the American poet, see George Henry Calvert.

Henry Calvert (1798–1868) was a British animal painter.

Henry Calvert
Born	June 1798 Darlton, Nottinghamshire, England
Died	1 September 1868 (aged 70) Southport, Lancashire, England

Early life

Calvert was born in Darlton, Nottinghamshire, in June 1798 to William Calvert and Esther Callingham.^[1]

Many sources from the late 19th century onwards claim that Calvert was a brother of Manchester artists Charles and Michael Pease Calvert.^[2][3][4][5] However, they were unrelated—Henry Calvert was born more than nine months after the death of the Manchester Calverts' father, with different parents named on his birth record.^[1][6] The error may have originated in John Howard Nodal's Art in Lancashire and Cheshire: a List of Deceased Artists (1884), the source used for Charles Calvert's entry in the Dictionary of National Biography.^[2] Henry Calvert and the other Calverts were of similar ages, and all were working and exhibiting in Manchester during the same period, but there is no mention of Henry as their sibling in sources discussing the Manchester Calverts during their respective lifetimes.^[7]

Career

Calvert moved to Manchester, where he became a professional artist specialising in oil paintings of animals, including livestock and hunts, across Lancashire, Cheshire, and northern Wales.^[8][9]

His most notable painting was The Cheshire Hunt (1840), a large canvas depicting more than 40 different people—all of whom sat for Calvert—preparing for a hunt near Beeston Castle, which took him a year to paint and was exhibited in Manchester, Liverpool, and London; mezzotint prints were produced and sold by Thomas Agnew & Sons.^{[10][11][12][13][14]} It now hangs in the entrance of Tatton Hall in Cheshire, the former home of the noble Egerton family, some of whom were included in the painting.^[15][16] The Vine Hunt Meeting (1843) and The Wynnstay Hunt (1855) are other notable hunt paintings by Calvert.^[8][17]

He exhibited regularly at the Royal Manchester Institution; when he exhibited two dog paintings, Dandie Dinmont Family and Varmint, in 1848, the Manchester Courier described him as the third-best canine painter in the country (with Edwin Landseer in first place).^[18]

He was the founding treasurer of the Manchester Academy of Fine Arts in 1859.^[19] Joshua Maiden, a brother of Joseph Maiden, was his pupil.^[20]

Death

He died in Southport on 1 September 1868, aged 70, and was buried in Sale, Manchester alongside his wife Mary.^[21]

In 1971, an exhibition of equestrian paintings was held at the Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool to coincide with the Grand National at nearby Aintree, and it included paintings by Calvert; the curators believed him to be "a first-class painter, only overlooked because so many other artists of his time were also painting horses," and deserving of rediscovery.^[22]

The Dictionary of British Equestrian Artists (1985) describes him as "a comparatively little known and underestimated artist whose ability deserves greater recognition. His work is of a high standard, his horses well drawn, his composition good and his detail of items such as saddlery is accurate; as well as painting horses and sporting scenes he painted a variety of other animals including cattle portraits, and a few landscapes. Although he would seem to have led a fairly active artistic life his work is now fairly rare."^[8]

References

1. "Nottinghamshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 2023-11-13.
2. Axon, William Edward Armytage (1886). "Calvert, Charles (1785-1852)" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 08. p. 266.
3. Genealogy, Chater (2021-01-01). "The Raphael's: In the Shadow of Mexborough". Armenians in India - Behind the Scenes Forgotten History. Retrieved 2023-11-08.
4. Highfill, Philip H.; Burnim, Kalman A.; Langhans, Edward A. (1975). A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers and Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800: Cabanel to Cory. SIU Press. ISBN 978-0-8093-0692-3.
5. Carmel. "Henry Calvert 1798-c.1869 for Thursday is Art Day – carmelrowley.com.au". Retrieved 2023-11-13.
6. "UK, Extracted Probate Records, 1269-1975". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 2023-11-13.
7. Thomas, Letherbrow (20 July 1878). "The Calverts". The Manchester City News - Notes & Queries. p. 181.
8. Mitchell, Sally (1985). The Dictionary of British Equestrian Artists. Antique Collectors' Club. ISBN 978-0-907462-42-2.
9. Moncrieff, Elspeth; Joseph, Stephen; Joseph, Iona (1996). Farm Animal Portraits. Antique Collectors' Club. ISBN 978-1-85149-239-8.
10. "Picture of the Cheshire Hunt". Manchester Courier. 25 April 1840. p. 5. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
11. "The Cheshire Hunt". Morning Herald (London). 1 April 1840. p. 1. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
12. "The Cheshire Hunt". Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. 10 March 1840. p. 5. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
13. "The Cheshire Hunt". Atlas. 18 April 1840. p. 14. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
14. "The Cheshire Hunt". Manchester Courier. 14 May 1842. p. 5. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
15. Tatton Park, the mansion. Tatton Park, Knutsford: Cheshire County Council. 2001. p. 17. ISBN 978-0-904532-42-5.
16. Morris, Edward (2001-01-01). Public Art Collections in North-west England: A History and Guide. Liverpool University Press. ISBN 978-0-85323-527-9.
17. The Connoisseur. Hearst Corporation. 1952.
18. "Royal Manchester Institution - Exhibition of 1848". Manchester Courier. 15 July 1848. p. 3. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
19. Buckingham, James Silk; Sterling, John; Maurice, Frederick Denison; Stebbing, Henry; Dilke, Charles Wentworth; Hervey, Thomas Kibble; Dixon, William Hepworth; Maccoll, Norman; Rendall, Vernon Horace (1861). Athenaeum: London Literary and Critical Journal. J. Francis.
20. Child, Dennis (2002). Painters in the northern counties of England and Wales. Internet Archive. Leeds : Dennis Child. ISBN 978-0-9523247-1-3.
21. "England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 2023-11-13.
22. "Horses and courses". Liverpool Daily Post. 26 March 1971. p. 8. Retrieved 13 November 2023.