A Literary and Pictorial Archive by ARNALD, George ... ( 1763 -1841 ) English Painter and Illustrator - 0

Manuscript. Very Good. The archive collection comprises : four signed letters dated from the early part of the 19th century, addressed to Arnald from fellow artists discussing various aspects of their work, etc. They are R. Livesay, Robert Sherebourne, Sir David Wilkie, James Glaisher from the Royal Observatory, Greenwich. Two signed letters to F.J. Smith, keeper of prints in the British Museum, one from James Northcote, the other from Thomas Stothard. Two pictorial signed letters from H. Cowel (?), postmarked York, 1816 and 1818 discussing aspects of York architecture, Cawood Castle, and Nunnery Castle.. With an important collection of SIX ORIGINAL PORTRAITS IN PENCIL of significant fellow Royal Academy members, Sir William Chambers, Robert Smith jun, John Bacon senior, Thomas Banks, Benjamin West, John Flaxman. These animated images are, on stylistic grounds, highly probably the work of George Dance (1741-1825). Although better known as an architect, he was also a distinguished portraitist. It is highly likely he knew Arnald, though his portraiture really 'took off' after 1798, making the portraits of Chambers and Bacon amongst his earlier artistic work..This compendium of Arnald's fellow-professionals in the arts is of uncertain date ( though both Chambers and Bacon were dead before 1800). Provenance : passed through the family by descent.