Description

A fine lithograph depicting the gothic building of the Tomb of Maximilian I Innsbruck, Austria. Unsigned. On paper.

Condition

The condition is typical for a picture of this age including some discolouration.

Collection Information

A fine collection of lithographs by well listed artist Louis Haghe. Each dated 1840 and printed at the lithographic establishment of Day and Hague, Cate St. Lincoln's Inn Fields. This delightful selection of prints follows Hague through Brussels and Germany, capturing opulent religious architecture and the charming characters in these grand spaces. A true master at his craft, Hague's work leaves no detail behind, leaving us with a series of lithographs which perfectly reflect the beauty of European architecture.

Biography

Louis Haghe (1806-1885) was a Belgian lithographer and watercolourist. His father and grandfather had practised as architects. Training in his teens in watercolour painting, he found work in the relatively new art of lithography when the first press was set up in Tournai. He visited England to find work, and settled there permanently in 1823. Together with William Day (1797-1845), around 1830 he formed the partnership Day and Haghe, which became the most famous early Victorian firm of lithographic printing in London.

In 1838, Day and Haghe were appointed lithographers to Queen Victoria. One of his most ambitious projects was providing two hundred and fifty images for David Roberts' 'The Holy Land', printed between 1842 and 1849.

From about 1855 onwards, Haghe concentrated more on his watercolours, and gained a reputation for his architectural scenes of northern Europe, with his pictures bought and displayed by the Victoria and Albert Museum. He also painted in oils, which were exhibited at the British Institution. He became President of the New Society of Painters in Watercolours in 1873.