John Scarlett Davis 1804-1845 British School 19th.Century. Pencil drawing of a woman painting. A possible preparatory study for Davis' view of "The Main Gallery of the Louvre" of 1831. Provenance: Thomas Agnew & Sons 93rd Exhibition of Watercolours and Drawings 1966. No.161. Ex. Fuller collection. 8 by 11.5 cms image. 24.5 by 29.5 cms framed overall.
A superb draughtsman, watercolourist and printmaker, Davis was born in Leominster, he won the silver palette from the Society of Arts for a copy of an anatomical engraving aged only eleven. He entered the R.A. schools in 1820 and first exhibited at the R.A. in 1822. He had a successful portrait painting practice but it is his watercolours and drawings, in particular those of interiors with figures on which his reptutation rests today. His work is quite rare.