THOMAS SIDNEY COOPER (Canterbury 1803 – Canterbury 1902)
A View of Brussels
inscribed on the reverse T. S. Cooper Brussels
brown wash and pencil on beige paper
4 1/8 x 8 inches (11 x 20.3 cm)
PROVENANCE
Commissioned from the artist by Daniel Wadsworth Coit (1787 – 1876), and thus by descent for five generations in the Coit family to
Estate of Ms. Elizabeth Hoague (née Coit), Seattle
LITERATURE
Kenneth J. Westwood, Thomas Sidney Cooper, C.V.O., R.A. His Life and Work, David Leathers Publishing, Somerset, 2011, volume one, p. 164, no. DC(1827-1831), 37.
Cooper began his career as a decorative artist in 1823 in London where he was studying fine art at the British Museum and the Royal Academy. He returned briefly to his native Canterbury to teach painting, then married and lived in Brussels from 1827 to 1831. He then returned to London, where he remained for almost the rest of his life.
This drawing is part of a group of recently discovered topographical watercolors and drawings of Belgium, England, Germany, and Switzerland. The project was commissioned by Daniel Coit, a businessman and amateur artist, who wanted a record of this travels through Europe.