Beschreibung:

Henry Kirchhoffer RHA (1781-1860)
Signature: inscribed with title on backing board on one and with the artist's name on the other
Medium: gouache; (2)
Size: 8 x 6¼in. (20.32 x 15.88cm) Provenance: Collection of John Brennan (aka John Welcome), Co. Wexford; His sale, Mealy's, 1 October 2013 Of equal size and presented uniformly in ornate gilt frames. John Brennan was a Wexford Solicitor, racing enthusiast, and novelist who wrote under the name of ‘John Welcome.’ He was a friend and biographer of the artist J.H. Payne, ‘Snaffles'....Read more Of equal size and presented uniformly in ornate gilt frames. John Brennan was a Wexford Solicitor, racing enthusiast, and novelist who wrote under the name of ‘John Welcome.’ He was a friend and biographer of the artist J.H. Payne, ‘Snaffles'. Henry Kirchhoffer was descended from a Swiss surgeon who served in Ireland under William III. He entered the Dublin Society's Schools in 1797, and in 1801 he exhibited two portrait drawings in the Parliament House. For some years afterwards he resided in Cork, where he practised as a miniature painter, and from there, in 1802, he sent five miniatures to the exhibition held that year in the Parliament House. Twenty-four works by him were in the First Munster Exhibition held in Cork in 1815. He returned to Dublin in 1816 and sent a number of drawings to the exhibitions held in the Dublin Society's House in Hawkins Street in 1817 and 1819. He also exhibited in 1821, and contributed a 'Portrait of Charles Robertson ' the miniature painter, to the water-colour exhibition held in 1823. This portrait was presented by Mr E.S. Robertson to the National Gallery of Ireland in 1903 [NGI.2523]. Kirchhoffer was one of the original Associates of the RHA, and was elected a Member in 1826. He was an exhibitor from 1826 to 1834, chiefly of landscapes and portraits in water-colour, and also of miniatures and figure subjects. In 1835 he settled in London and exhibited at the Royal Academy and elsewhere from 1837 to 1843 chiefly portraits. After 1843 little is known of him as an artist. He lived in Brighton for some years, and returning to London he died at 71 St. John's Wood Terrace aged 79.