Charles Deane – Early 19th Century Oil of a View on the Thames at Twickenham

CHARLES DEANE

Charles Deane was a prolific London landscape painter. He was also a great traveller who wandered from from Putney to the Rhine, from Wharfedale to Scheldt, from Maidstone to the Moselle and Meuse, painting the scenes he encountered. However, his best known works are views of the River Thames and landscapes from the Bristol countryside.

Deane showed his work at the Royal Academy from 1815 to 1851. He also displayed at the British Institution, exhibiting 103 paintings there (landscapes and also marine subjects). He also exhibited eight paintings at the Royal Society of British Artists.

His work was highly appreciated by his contemporaries and often featured in the prestigious Art Union prizes.

Deane’s Continental pieces tend to be more gaudy and hard, where as his river banks of the Thames are calmer and subtly coloured. Some of his canvases are large, over eight feet wide.

Deane lived in Blandford Place, Regents Park, London from 1822 to 1851.

This example of Deane’s work was painted from the river around Marble Hill looking west towards Eel Pie Island with the Church of St. Mary’s to the centre. It depicts the Thames on a summer’s evening. It has an Arcadian serenity that is typical of Georgian landscape painting.