Allen Robert Branston facts for kids
Robert Branston (1778–1827) was a very skilled British artist who specialized in wood-engraving. He was known for creating detailed pictures for books using this special technique.
A Young Artist's Journey
Robert Branston was born in 1778 in a place called Lynn, in Norfolk, England. His father was an engraver and a painter, so Robert learned about art from a young age. He started working with his father as an apprentice.
When he was about 19 years old, Robert moved to Bath. There, he worked as both a painter and an engraver. In 1799, he moved to London. In London, he started focusing on wood-engraving, a skill he taught himself. Robert Branston passed away in Brompton, London, in 1827. His sons, Robert Edward Branston and William Frederick Branston, also became engravers.
His Artistic Creations
Robert Branston mostly created illustrations for books. He often worked from designs made by other artists, like John Thurston. When he came to London, he quickly became one of the best wood-engravers there. Before him, no one in London was as good as Thomas Bewick, a famous engraver from Newcastle.
Branston and Bewick were often seen as rivals. Even though Branston didn't design his own pictures and was younger than Bewick, he helped start the 'London school' of wood-engraving. He played a big part in making wood-engraving a more respected art form in England.
Robert Branston was especially good at engraving figures and indoor scenes. However, he was not as successful with outdoor landscapes. Many people consider his best work to be 'The Cave of Despair.' This illustration, based on a design by Thurston, appeared in William Savage's book Practical Hints on Decorative Printing in 1822. It showed how skilled he was with both light and dark lines in his engravings.
He illustrated many books, including:
- David Hume's The History of England (1804–1810)
- Robert Bloomfield's Wild Flowers (1806)
- Poems by George Marshall (1812)
Robert Branston also taught many students, including a very talented engraver named John Thompson. You can see how Branston and Thompson's work compares by looking at the illustrations in James Puckle's book The Club from 1817. Branston once planned to create a book of fables, similar to Bewick's, using Thurston's designs. However, he stopped the project after only a few were made. He also engraved some pictures of birds to show he was better than Bewick, but even though they were beautifully made, they weren't as good as Bewick's bird engravings.
