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William Herbert Allen (1863–1943) was a notable English landscape watercolour artist whose career spanned more than 50 years from the 1880s to the 1940s. He was invariably referred to as "WH" rather than by his given name. Born 14 September 1863 in West Brompton, London, of parents from Alton, Hampshire, Allen was for many years Director of the Farnham School of Art in Surrey. He produced several thousand watercolours, chalk and pencil sketches mainly of the landscapes, traditions and people of West Surrey and North-east Hampshire. In addition, he produced scenes of other parts of the British Isles and various parts of Europe. These works included commissions in Italy for the Victoria and Albert Museum, Dublin, Edinburgh and Preston museums.〔W. H. Allen 1863-1943 Landscape artist by Alastair Penfold & John Gillett〕 He was made a member of the Royal Watercolour Society in 1903 and the Royal Society of British Artists in 1904〔 and his work was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1927. He moved from Surrey to Wylye, Wiltshire in 1932 and is buried at St Nicholas's Church, Fisherton de la Mere. Many of W. H. Allen's paintings are regularly displayed at the Allen Gallery, Church Street, Alton. These include landscapes of the local East Hampshire countryside at the beginning of the 20th century. ==Style and Influences== Many of his paintings were produced "in the field" and are bold in their depiction of light and shadows, or of changing weather conditions. His studio works are generally larger and of greater detail. Very few were sold on the open market, but he did exhibit regularly at the major galleries and annual exhibitions.〔(W H Allen 1863-1943 )〕 Allen embraced many styles and techniques from vivid, almost abstract, watercolours to more traditional oils and watercolours. His field sketches and studies are considered to be particularly successful and were painted in all weathers and conditions.〔 He was a private and modest man who changed peoples' perception of their surroundings. In this he was helped by fellow Farnham resident and friend George Sturt, whose writings reflect Allen's approach to the recording of rural life and change. Thanks to their work, urban and rural landscapes began to be preserved at a time when "progress" was causing sweeping changes.〔 In the 1880s, the depiction of life and work in the countryside was subject to two very different approaches, the traditional rural romanticism/sentimentality - thatched cottages with roses around the door and contented happy harvest scenes (e.g. Myles Birkett Foster), and that of social realism - recording child labour and exploitation, agricultural depression, bad weather, hard work and hard labour (e.g. Sir George Clausen). By the time Allen started recording the countryside around Farnham in the 1890s, Britain was in the grip of a severe agricultural depression which continued until the late 1930s, mirroring his artistic output.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「W. H. Allen」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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