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Lot Essay
This impressive picture belongs to the celebrated series of depictions of the Battle of Waterloo by George Jones, the artist who would earn the soubriquet 'Waterloo Jones'. Through his rendering of the scene as a panoramic vista, Jones conveys the historical gravity of the subject matter whilst displaying his technical accuracy and thorough understanding of the topography of the battlefield. He visited the site at Waterloo and recorded sketches of the landscape and its conditions; a number of these sketches were published in a book of engravings entitled The Battle of Waterloo [...] by a Near Observer (London, 1817). His attention to detail coexists harmoniously with a more unsettled background; in his portrayal of the numerous troops in the distance as blurred clouds of light and shade we may observe Jones's experimentation with the artistic devices employed by his good friend, and esteemed fellow artist, J.M.W. Turner.
Jones rapidly became recognised as an authority on the events at Waterloo. A number of his compositions depicting the battle are recorded, including one in the Royal Collection and another in the Royal Military Hospital, Chelsea. The Chelsea picture earned a prize from the British Institution in 1820 for a painting to celebrate the great allied victory. The Duke of Wellington approved of Jones's style, confirming that it was 'very good – not too much smoke', (H. Ottley, Biographical and Critical Dictionary of Recent and Living Painters and Engravers, 1866, vol. I, p. 98.) George IV was greatly impressed by the artist's portrayal of the victory and commissioned another piece two years later for the throne room of St. James's Palace, where it still hangs.
His success as a painter of battle scenes stems from both his early artistic training and firsthand military experience. Jones had been taught the essential principles of art by his father, John Jones (1755-1796), a mezzotint engraver, and had enrolled as a student at the Royal Academy in 1801, aged just fifteen. His formal artistic training was interrupted in 1808 when Jones enlisted in the South Devon militia. He was later to fight under the Duke of Wellington in the Peninsular war (1807-1814). Jones's keenly felt patriotism, his experience of military engagement and admiration for the Duke of Wellington, to whom he was proud to bear a resemblance, led to his desire to capture key events of British history.
Jones rapidly became recognised as an authority on the events at Waterloo. A number of his compositions depicting the battle are recorded, including one in the Royal Collection and another in the Royal Military Hospital, Chelsea. The Chelsea picture earned a prize from the British Institution in 1820 for a painting to celebrate the great allied victory. The Duke of Wellington approved of Jones's style, confirming that it was 'very good – not too much smoke', (H. Ottley, Biographical and Critical Dictionary of Recent and Living Painters and Engravers, 1866, vol. I, p. 98.) George IV was greatly impressed by the artist's portrayal of the victory and commissioned another piece two years later for the throne room of St. James's Palace, where it still hangs.
His success as a painter of battle scenes stems from both his early artistic training and firsthand military experience. Jones had been taught the essential principles of art by his father, John Jones (1755-1796), a mezzotint engraver, and had enrolled as a student at the Royal Academy in 1801, aged just fifteen. His formal artistic training was interrupted in 1808 when Jones enlisted in the South Devon militia. He was later to fight under the Duke of Wellington in the Peninsular war (1807-1814). Jones's keenly felt patriotism, his experience of military engagement and admiration for the Duke of Wellington, to whom he was proud to bear a resemblance, led to his desire to capture key events of British history.