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Lot Essay
Boyce was a modest artist who had a highly original vision and a rare talent when tackling landscape composition. He led a comfortable life and was able to travel extensively. He was an avid collector, buying the work of his contemporaries Rossetti, Millais, Burne-Jones, Seddon and Inchbold, as well as Old Master paintings and French watercolours. He is also celebrated for his detailed diaries, which offer a rare insight into the life of the Pre-Raphaelite circle.
Boyce was born in London on 24 September 1826, the son of a City wine merchant who changed his profession to pawnbroking and had a very successful career. He finished his education in France and on his return was articled to the architect Mr. Little. He travelled on the Continent in the mid-1840s and then in 1847 joined the firm, Wyatt & Brandon. Boyce was frustrated with his work as an architect's improver. His innate modesty prevented him from having confidence in his talents as an artist but, on meeting David Cox in 1849 he was persuaded to take up painting and give up architecture.
Boyce was drawn to the luminosity of watercolours by Girtin and Turner but it was Ruskin who became his mentor and the techniques of the Pre-Raphaelites that became the pervading influence on his work. It was also in 1849 that Boyce joined Thomas Seddon in his life drawing classes and it is here that he is thought to have first met Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Rossetti became a close friend and often looked to Boyce for advice about landscape painting. Whereas Rossetti hated drawing outdoors, Boyce was a painstaking observer who followed Ruskin's call to observe nature in the flesh. He set off on a tour of the Alps and Italy in 1854 as a homage to Ruskin, and kept in close written contact with him throughout the journey.
Between 1853 and 1861 Boyce exhibited 12 pictures at the Royal Academy. He also exhibited at the Old Water-Colour Society but was made an associate only in 1864 and a full member in 1878.
Boyce's work of the late 1850s and early 1860s shows him at his most Pre-Raphaelite. Like Brett and Inchbold, he painted minutely observed detail in bright colours. He avoided the picturesque and for his daring, almost abstract, compositions he always sought an unusual viewpoint. Boyce enjoyed hard diagonals and dense overlapping elements. He was fascinated by effects of light and shadow. Ruskin once told him that sunset and twilight were easier to paint than sunlight effects, and Boyce appears to have risen to this challenge.
Boyce travelled throughout his life, visiting Egypt in 1861. However, his main inspiration was found in the countryside and architecture of England. Of all the Pre-Raphaelites, Boyce was considered to have the greatest sense of everyday life.
Boyce was born in London on 24 September 1826, the son of a City wine merchant who changed his profession to pawnbroking and had a very successful career. He finished his education in France and on his return was articled to the architect Mr. Little. He travelled on the Continent in the mid-1840s and then in 1847 joined the firm, Wyatt & Brandon. Boyce was frustrated with his work as an architect's improver. His innate modesty prevented him from having confidence in his talents as an artist but, on meeting David Cox in 1849 he was persuaded to take up painting and give up architecture.
Boyce was drawn to the luminosity of watercolours by Girtin and Turner but it was Ruskin who became his mentor and the techniques of the Pre-Raphaelites that became the pervading influence on his work. It was also in 1849 that Boyce joined Thomas Seddon in his life drawing classes and it is here that he is thought to have first met Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Rossetti became a close friend and often looked to Boyce for advice about landscape painting. Whereas Rossetti hated drawing outdoors, Boyce was a painstaking observer who followed Ruskin's call to observe nature in the flesh. He set off on a tour of the Alps and Italy in 1854 as a homage to Ruskin, and kept in close written contact with him throughout the journey.
Between 1853 and 1861 Boyce exhibited 12 pictures at the Royal Academy. He also exhibited at the Old Water-Colour Society but was made an associate only in 1864 and a full member in 1878.
Boyce's work of the late 1850s and early 1860s shows him at his most Pre-Raphaelite. Like Brett and Inchbold, he painted minutely observed detail in bright colours. He avoided the picturesque and for his daring, almost abstract, compositions he always sought an unusual viewpoint. Boyce enjoyed hard diagonals and dense overlapping elements. He was fascinated by effects of light and shadow. Ruskin once told him that sunset and twilight were easier to paint than sunlight effects, and Boyce appears to have risen to this challenge.
Boyce travelled throughout his life, visiting Egypt in 1861. However, his main inspiration was found in the countryside and architecture of England. Of all the Pre-Raphaelites, Boyce was considered to have the greatest sense of everyday life.