Thomas Shotter Boys was born in 1803 in Pentonville, a northern suburb of London. And that's where it all began, in terms of information about his early life. Almost nothing is known about his childhood. So be it. There's an old proverb that says, "By their works you shall know them." And in this respect, the English watercolorist and lithographer has not been complacent. With his landscape watercolour paintings he conquered his place in the history of art, and he is also considered an innovative force in the use of the lithographic process.
At the age of fourteen, Thomas Shotter Boys was taken on as an apprentice by the successful engraver and copperplate engraver George Cooke, for whom he made around two hundred drawings - for example for an extensive catalogue of works by the botanist Conrad Loddiges. Thomas Shotter Boy's earliest surviving work is a graphic from 1819, and after the end of his apprenticeship he moved to Paris around 1825, where he wanted to work as an engraver. It should come differently. In the French capital he made the acquaintance of the English watercolour painter Richard Parkes Bonington, who accepted him into his artist circle, became a close friend and convinced him to turn to watercolour painting, at least in his second job. The claim that Thomas Shotter Boys was a student of Bonington is highly doubtful, however. Boys' colleague and good friend William Callow, with whom he shared a studio in Paris, categorically denies this statement.
The success as a painter failed to materialize at first because Thomas Shotter Boys was unfairly dismissed as a "Bonington imitator". He did not let himself be discouraged, however, and succeeded quite quickly in developing and establishing his own unmistakable style. After Richard Parkes Bonington's early death in 1828 he completed some unfinished works of his friend and learned the technique of lithography. He also went on extensive travels. Some stations of these travelling years were Brussels, Austria, Bohemia, Germany and Italy. Finally, he returned to England, where he first dealt with the lithographic printing process, which was still quite new at the time. In this field he produced several revolutionary works that were unparalleled. It is no exaggeration to say that the world had never seen anything like it before. But for all his successes as a lithographer, he remained true to watercolour painting during this time. And also in this profession he made a breakthrough.
He was now a celebrity in the art metropolises of London and Paris; in gratitude for his work, the French King Louis Philippe even gave him a precious ring - engraved with the initials "L.P." and decorated with a crown of diamonds of France. Thomas Shotter Boys received another great honour when he was appointed a full member of the New Society of Painters in Water-colours in 1841. But then his artistic-creative career went steeply downhill. Interest in him and his works waned and he was forced to return to his old profession as an engraver.
It is pointless to speculate about the most famous or memorable work of Thomas Shotter Boys. Rather, one can make a statement about his favourite motif. This is about the Old Town Hall in St. Omer, which he painted seven times. He was good at this, because this way the building has been preserved, at least figuratively. In 1831 it was largely destroyed by demolition, only a remnant could still be placed under monumental protection.
×
Passionate Customer Service
.jpg "Westminster Abbey and Hospital, London by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "Mansion House and Cheapside, from")
.jpg)
.jpg "Castle of the Counts of Flanders, Ghent by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "The Abbey of St. Amand, Rouen by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "Piccadilly from the corner of Old Bond Street, from")
.jpg)
.jpg "London As It Is: Temple Bar, from the Strand by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "Temple Bar from the Strand, 1842 by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "View of Regent Street Looking Towards the Quadrant with Hanover Chapel in the Foreground, 1842 by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "The Bank of England Looking Towards the Mansion House, from")
.jpg)
.jpg "View of the Board of Trade, Whitehall from Downing Street, 1842 by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "Cheapside and Mansion House by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "St. Dunstan")
.jpg)
.jpg "London As It Is: St. Paul")
.jpg)
.jpg "Regent Street Looking Towards the Quadrant, from")
.jpg)
.jpg "Mansion House, Cheapside, plate one from Original Views of London as It Is by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "Le Pont Royal, Paris by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "Hyde Park Corner, looking down Piccadilly, from")
.jpg)
.jpg "London As It Is: The Strand by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "The Intersection of Rue Bailleul and Jean Tison, Current 1st Arrondissement, Paris by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "Regent Street Looking Towards the Duke of York")
.jpg)
.jpg "Piccadilly, Looking Towards the City, plate seventeen from Original Views of London as It Is by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "The Alexandre Tower in 1827, and the Saint-Victor Fountain by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "Picturesque Architecture in Paris, Ghent, Antwerp, Rouen: St. Etienne du Mont and the Pantheon, Paris by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
 Belgium - (MeisterDrucke-2505).jpg "A View of the Church of Our Lady of Hanswijk, Mechelen, Belgium by Thomas Shotter Boys")
 Belgium - (MeisterDrucke-2505).jpg)
.jpg "Board of Trade, Whitehall, from Downing Street, plate eight from Original Views of London as It Is by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "The Club Houses and Pall Mall, plate thirteen from Original Views of London as It Is by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "St. Paul")
.jpg)
.jpg "London As It Is: St. Dunstan")
.jpg)
.jpg "St. James Palace, plate ten from Original Views of London as It Is by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "Figures on a Beach in Northern France by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "The Board of Trade, Whitehall, from Downing Street, from")
.jpg)
.jpg "Regent Street, Looking Towards the Duke of York")
.jpg)
.jpg "Hotel de Sens, Paris by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "St. Paul")
.jpg)
 f - (MeisterDrucke-258234).jpg "Western side of John Nash")
 f - (MeisterDrucke-258234).jpg)
.jpg "View of a Market Square by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "The Church of St. Magnus the Martyr by London Bridge, with Monument in the Background by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "Regent Street, Looking Toward Piccadilly From Waterloo Place by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "Regent Street Looking Towards the Quadrant, plate eighteen from Original Views of London as It Is by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "Temple Bar from The Strand, plate 22 from Original Views of London as It Is by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "St. Dunstans Fleet Street, plate 23 from Original Views of London as It Is by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "Fish Market, Antwerp by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
_-_(MeisterDrucke-1471570).jpg "Prouvaires street and the Saint-Eustache church by Thomas Shotter Boys")
_-_(MeisterDrucke-1471570).jpg)
.jpg "Hotel de Bellevue and Cafe d")
.jpg)
.jpg "Abbey St. Amand, Rouen by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "Unknown Image by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "Picturesque Architecture in Paris, Ghent, Antwerp, Rouen, Etc.: Tour de Remy, Dieppe by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "The Club Houses, Pall Mall by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "Piccadilly, 1842 by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "Rue Notre Dame, Paris by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "London As It Is: Regent Street, looking towards the Duke of York")
.jpg)
.jpg "London As It Is: Hyde Park Corner by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "Regent Street, looking towards the Duke of York")
.jpg)
.jpg "The Custom House, plate three from Original Views of London as It Is by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "Regent Street looking towards the Quadrant with Hanover Chapel in the foreground and shoppers promenading by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "View of the Tuilleries on the Seine by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "Piccadilly, Looking Towards the City, from")
.jpg)
.jpg "Crossroad of the Tison and Jean Bailleul Street by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "The Pont des Arts, Paris by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "Picturesque Architecture in Paris, Ghent, Antwerp, Touen, etc. by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "La Chapelle de l")
.jpg)
.jpg "Courtyard of an Inn on the Thames by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "Prague by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "The Strand, plate 21 from Original Views of London as It Is by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "Picturesque Architecture in Paris, Ghent, Antwerp, Rouen: La Chapelle de l")
.jpg)
.jpg "Hyde Park Corner, plate fifteen from Original Views of London as It Is by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "The Sainte-Chapelle, Paris by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "Hotel de Sens by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "Picturesque Architecture in Paris, Ghent, Antwerp, Rouen: St. Laurent, Rouen, France by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "London As It Is: Board of Trade, Whitehall, from Downing Street by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
 - (MeisterDrucke-574499).jpg "View near Arundel Castle by Thomas Shotter Boys")
 - (MeisterDrucke-574499).jpg)
.jpg "Hotel de Sens, Paris by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "The Pont Neuf, Paris by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "Westminster Abbey and Hospital, from")
.jpg)
.jpg "La Chapelle de l")
.jpg)
.jpg "Temple Bar, from the Strand, from")
.jpg)
.jpg "Picturesque Architecture in Paris, Ghent, Antwerp, Touen, etc. by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "The Custom House, from")
.jpg)
_-_(MeisterDrucke-1714982).jpg "View of Issy (A Street in Issy-les-Moulineaux, Seine) by Thomas Shotter Boys")
_-_(MeisterDrucke-1714982).jpg)
.jpg "Landscape with Windmills by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "The Institute, Paris by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "Picturesque Architecture in Paris, Ghent, Antwerp, Rouen: HĂ´tel de Sens, Paris by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "L hotel de Ville, St Omer by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "Westminster Abbey, Hospital and Company, plate seven from Original Views of London as It Is by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "Duke of Wellington")
.jpg)
.jpg "Picturesque Sketches in Spain: Remains of a Roman Bridge on the Guadalquiver, Cordova by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "Westminster Abbey, Hospital, etc. by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "Picturesque Architecture in Paris, Ghent, Antwerp, Touen, etc. by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "Picturesque Architecture in Paris, Ghent, Antwerp, Rouen: HĂ´tel Cluny, Paris by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "Hotel de Sens, rue du Figuier by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
_Belgium_-_(MeisterDrucke-877400).jpg "A View of the Church of Our Lady of Hanswijk, Mechelen, Belgium by Thomas Shotter Boys")
_Belgium_-_(MeisterDrucke-877400).jpg)
.jpg "Hotel de Ville de St Omer, Pas de Calais by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "Notre Dame, Paris from the Quai Saint Bernard by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
 - (MeisterDrucke-116401).jpg "Brussels from the Paris Road, 1831 by Thomas Shotter Boys")
 - (MeisterDrucke-116401).jpg)
.jpg "Dresden by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "London As It Is: Piccadilly, looking Eastward towards the City by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "Picturesque Architecture in Paris, Ghent, Antwerp, Rouen: South Porch of Chartres Cathedral, Chartres, France by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "L")
.jpg)
.jpg "London, from Greenwich, plate five from Original Views of London as It Is by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
.jpg "The Tower and Mint from Great Tower Hill, Plate Two from Original Views of London as It Is by Thomas Shotter Boys")
.jpg)
+43 4257 29415
support@meisterdrucke.com
Mo-Do: 7:00 - 16:00 | Fr: 7:00 - 13:00
