William Westall, voyage artist: autograph receipt for the sale a drawing for Mrs. Haldimand, dated 31 October 1826.

A$950 · Offered by Douglas Stewart Fine Books

Manuscript in ink on laid paper, 75 x 180 mm; dated Oct. 31st 1826 , the document is written in Westall s hand and is worded: Recd. of G. J. Robson Esqre. Ten Guineas for a Drawing for Mrs. Haldimand. [Signed] W. Westall. / £10.10 ; blind stamped at left margin Receipt Three Pence ; clean and complete. Rare autograph document of William Westall (1781-1850), one of the first European artists to work in Australia. As a very young man, Westall served as artist for Matthew Flinders on his voyage of circumnavigation of New Holland in the Investigator (1801-03). In his later career in England he established himself as a successful landscape artist. For a brief biographical sketch of Westall, see the DAAO . The purchaser of Westall s drawing, Mrs. Sophia Haldimand (née Prinsep, d. 1861), was the wife of London financier and property developer George Haldimand (1781-1850), whom she had married in 1807. Haldimand was a partner in the syndicate responsible for building Belgrave Square, which is where the couple resided for most of their married life. The Haldimands were both passionate collectors and patrons of the arts. In 1826 Sophia commissioned the watercolourist George Fennel Robson who is named on Westall s receipt to assemble for her an album of watercolours by leading British artists of the day. By 1828 Robson had compiled the Haldimand Album, containing 100 commissioned works by 99 artists, including Westall, J. W. M. Turner and John Constable. Although the subjects were mainl

• Binding: Hardcover

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