The Royal Exchange
London View, 1788

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Perspective View of the Outside of the Royal Exchange
Royal Exchange Royal Exchange
Royal Exchange Royal Exchange
Philippe Jacques de Loutherbourg (1740-1812) (after)
and J. Chapman (after)
Francesco Bartolozzi (1727-1815) (engraver)
Perspective View of the Outside of the Royal Exchange
Hand-colored engraving
J. Chapman, Pall Mall, London: August 12, 1788
18 x 23 inches
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Southwest view of the Royal Exchange's south front in London. Evidently the buildings were drawn by J. Chapman and the street scene by Loutherbourg. The vivid and lively bustle of pedestrians, workers, coaches and dogs on the street is characteristic of Loutherbourg's informal style which made him a popular artist of the time. Another copy of this print, in its original, uncolored state, is in the collection of the Guildhall Library and Art Collection in London.

Philippe Jacques de Loutherbourg (sometimes spelled Lutherbourg) was an Alsatian-born painter, illustrator and stage designer, active in France and England. The son of a court painter, he became a pupil of painter Carle Vanloo in Paris as a teenager and also studied engraving. Loutherbourg's first Salon exhibit showed the influence of 17th Century Dutch landscape painters, where the focus is on the foreground figures, which are framed by natural formations that occasionally fall away to reveal distant horizons. This style, as well as his talent as a colorist and portrayal of specific light and weather conditions made his paintings look fresh and natural compared to contemporaries like Boucher, and he became popular in France. Loutherbourg became the most prolific painter to exhibit at the Salon between 1762 and 1771. In 1766 he was elected to the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture and nominated as a Peintre du Roi.

Bartolozzi was an engraver, etcher and painter born in Florence, Italy. He was trained in the Florentine Academy and apprenticed to a Venetian engraver. In 1764, King George III's librarian brought him to England, where he was appointed Engraver to the King and later held the title of Royal Academician. A prolific engraver, he developed a stipple method invented in France, and his work was admired for its subtle modulations of light and shade and his sensitive and graceful portrayal of the human form. Engravings were the means of creating reproductions of fine art in the pre-photographic age, and Bartolozzi was considered one of the best. Sir Joshua Reynolds praised his work. He spent the last 13 years of his life working and teaching in Lisbon, where he was knighted.

Includes the title as written: "To the Right Honorable William Pitt, first Lord Commissioner of the Treasury, Principal Secretary of State, and Chancellor of the Exchequer, this Accurate Perspective View of the Outside of the Royal Exchange, in London. Is by Permission humbly Dedicated by his Grateful Obedient and most Obliged humble servant. J. Chapman."

References:

"Francesco Bartolozzi." Catholic Encyclopedia. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02319a.htm. (5 March 2002).

"Philippe Jacques de Loutherbourg." The Grove Dictionary of Art. New York: Macmillan. 2000. Artnet.com. http://www.artnet.com/library/05/0521/T052145.asp (6 May 2002).