Excerpt from A Biography of David Cox: With Remarks on His Works and Genius

In the introduction prefixed to his work, Mr. William Hall, the Author of this Memoir of David Cox, has explained the motive which led him to undertake the task, and also the qualifications he possessed for executing it. Long and close intimacy with Cox, during the whole period of the artist's residence at Harborne, afforded his Biographer special opportunities of learning the history of his friend, of studying his works and his method, and of forming an estimate of his genius. It was not as a person uninstructed in Art, or as an amateur, that Mr. Hall entered upon the work. He was himself an artist of long experience and of no mean capacity - one, indeed, from whom David Cox did not disdain to receive suggestions as to the choice and treatment of his subjects, and hints as to the method of painting in oil colours. To his technical knowledge, Mr. Hall added the advantages derived from a large acquaintance with books and men, and these were enhanced by singular modesty of character, refinement of taste, and by a poetic temperament, united - a rare combination - with sound practical judgment.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.