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قراءة كتاب Birket Foster, R.W.S. Sixteen examples in colour of the artist's work
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Birket Foster, R.W.S. Sixteen examples in colour of the artist's work
to become a tenant. Keene was greatly delighted with this retreat, of which he wrote:—
"The stillness here after London is delicious. The only sound is the ring of the village blacksmith's hammer in the distance or the occasional cluck of a hen, and the wind roars through the trees of a night, which lulls me pleasantly to sleep."
As may be seen by glancing through the titles of his exhibited paintings, the neighbourhood around Witley had a great charm for Birket Foster, and drawings made on Hambledon Common and in the village of Chiddingfold—with their picturesque cottages roofed with thatch or red tiles, now fast disappearing, and their leafy lanes with happy children gathering wild-flowers, or the beautiful view from his own residence overlooking the Surrey Weald, with Hindhead and Blackdown in the distance and glimpses of the Brighton Downs beyond—are most appreciated by the public, and it is by these paintings he is best known.
Birket Foster, as already stated, made very many tours through different parts of England and Scotland, and although he was not what may be termed a seascape artist, he was fond of making drawings of children playing on the seashore. Later in life he revisited many of the watering-places which he depicted for The Illustrated London News in his early days, and instead of sketches for wood-blocks, he painted many charming little scenes.
Another phase of Birket Foster's art was his love for painting fruit and flowers. He was greatly attracted by William Hunt's work. As may be expected, the same stippling in paintings by Hunt appears in works of Foster; but whilst the former nearly always painted his fruit pieces the same size as in Nature, the latter produced almost miniature representations of them.
In 1893 Birket Foster was attacked by a serious illness, and yielding to the pressure of medical advice, he was obliged to abandon much of his work and reluctantly to give up "The Hill." He removed to "Braeside," Weybridge, and here he resided quietly, devoting himself to his painting as much as possible, until his death, which occurred six years later. He was buried in Witley churchyard; a Celtic cross, with the simple inscription, "In memory of Birket Foster. Born Feb. 4th, 1825. Died March 27th, 1899," marks the spot where lie the remains of this great water-colour artist, who painted English landscape with such a pure feeling and high perception of the beauty of Nature.
Birket Foster was twice married—firstly, in 1850, to his cousin, Ann Spence, by whom he had five children, three sons and two daughters; and secondly, in 1864, to Frances Watson, a sister to John Dawson Watson, the well-known painter and member of the Old Water-Colour Society.
