The Artist‘s son Harry Cope
  • Charles West Cope
  • Leeds 1811 - 1890 Bournemouth
  • The Artist‘s son Harry Cope, 1861
  • lack, red and white chalk, on blue paper, on an old mount
  • inscribed and dated on the lower right: Harry Cope / aged 6 / 1861
  • 225 × 146 mm
Provenance:
Estate of the artist
Ms. M. P. Burt (great-granddaughter of the artist)
Christie‘s London, February 6th, 1968, lot 35
Sabin Galleries, London

After gaining experience in the atelier of his father, Charles West Cope the Elder, Charles West Cope attended the art school of the Royal Academy in London from 1828-33. After completing his degree there and finishing his first sketches in Paris, Cope set off in 1834 to tour the continent for two years. After his return to London, Cope specialized in the depiction of genre scenes and history painting, which he regularly exhibited in the British Institution and especially in the Royal Academy. This earned him numerous commissions beginning in 1845, particularly for large fresco projects in public buildings, like those in the House of Lords in the British Parliament. To realise these images, Cope traveled again to Italy and Munich, in order to become intimately conversant with the intricacies of fresco painting techniques. His successful implementation of these efforts led to further recognition and similar follow-up commissions. Even the Prince Consort Albert ordered large history paintings from Charles West Cope for the Osborne House, the royal summer palace on the Isle of Wight.

Cope acted both as an exhibitor and as a reporter at several World Fairs in Paris, and from 1867-75 even worked as a professor of the art of painting at his former training grounds, the Royal Academy in London.