Picturesque Architecture in Paris, Ghent, Antwerp, Touen, etc.
Medium
Color lithograph on paper
Dimensions
27.3 × 35.4 cm (10 3/4 × 13 15/16 in.)
Classification
lithograph
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
131200
Art Historical Context
Thomas Shotter Boys' *Picturesque Architecture in Paris, Ghent, Antwerp,en, etc.* (1839) captures the charm of Europe's historic cityscapes during a time of rapid urbanization. This color lithograph on paper, measuring 27.3 × 35.4 cm, belongs to the Art Institute of Chicago's Prints Drawings collection. Boys, a British artist renowned for his topographical views, drew inspiration from Romanticism's fascination with the "picturesque"—evocative scenes blending natural beauty and architectural grandeur. The title hints at a series depicting iconic structures in Paris, Ghent, Antwerp, and Rouen (l...
About the Artist
Thomas Shotter Boys · 1803–1874
Thomas Shotter Boys was born on 2 January 1803 in Pentonville, London, and received his first professional training as an apprentice to the engraver George Cooke. When his apprenticeship concluded he crossed the Channel to Paris, a move that would transform his artistic direction entirely. There he encountered Richard Parkes Bonington, the brilliant English watercolourist whose fresh, luminous ren...