William Alfred Delamotte

Born in England of a French refugee family, William Delamotte rose to become one of the leading landscape painters of his time. He took the post of Professor of Drawing at Sandhurst Military Academy, living for many years around the Sandhurst area, publishing his prints from his own home address. His sensitive landscape etchings display a naturalism and handling which is especially comparable with that of the later Norwich School artists. Indeed, W.A. Delamotte was one of the few artists outside their group to use etching as a truly creative medium during the first decades of the nineteenth century.

As a young man William Delamotte was one of the select group of artists to be invited to contribute to the first publication ever to employ the newly invented process of lithography (Specimens of Polyautography, 1803). He continued to explore the possibilities of new processes in printmaking throughout his life, working in almost all the available media, using etching, soft ground etching, aquatint, mezzotint and lithography at various times and in various combinations throughout his career.

With the exception of the pen lithographs which he created for Specimens of Polyautography and his views in Oxford, it appears that few of his prints were published by other parties. Indeed, many of his prints may have been for private circulation alone. [more]