ID: 700008155 Page link: http://vocab.getty.edu/page/cona/700008155	Record Type: Movable Work

A View of the Church of Our Lady of Hanswijk, Mechelen (Malines), Belgium (drawing (visual work); Thomas Shotter Boys (British, 1803 - 1874) (British Artist); 1831; J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center (Los Angeles, Los A...; 2008.46)

Note: Thomas Shotter Boys - so called to distinguish him from his contemporary publisher cousin Thomas Boys - made finished watercolors such as this one both for sale, and as preliminary works for prints. He sold such works at the New Watercolour Society in London, where he exhibited this one in 1832, and also at the Salon in Paris, the city in which he lived for much of the 1830s. Boys first went to Paris in 1824, where he met Richard Parkes Bonington and William Callow, with whom he later shared a studio. Both would become close friends, although Bonington died four years later. In common with these watercolorists (and often sitting side-by-side with them) Boys made topographical views of continental cities intended for publication. In fact Boys had initially trained as an engravers' assistant, and made his own lithographs, including his most famous volume Picturesque Architecture in Paris, Ghent, Antwerp, Rouen, published in 1839.Until 2009 the identity of this scene was unknown, but research has revealed that it is a view in Mechelen, a city of which Boys made another watercolor (of the Brussels Gate) in 1830 (now Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, England). Boys returned to Belgium on numerous occasions, and in 1834 took a Belgian wife. The watercolor scene is composed in line with picturesque theory of the time, with great attention paid to the chosen viewpoint. Unlike some of his contemporaries, Boys was always architecturally faithful, and did not adjust the placement of buildings to suit his composition. The sky betrays an approaching storm, and the light on the different buildings and scenery is carefully conveyed. Most evocative of Boys' lucid and powerful technique is the faithful and perfectly rendered reflection in the placid canal.

Titles:

A View of the Church of Our Lady of Hanswijk, Mechelen (Malines), Belgium (preferred,C,U,RP,English-P,U,U)

A View in a Continental Town, probably in Belgium (C,U,DE,English,U,U)

Catalog Level: item

Work Types:

drawing (visual work) [300033973] (preferred)

..... (Objects Facet, Visual and Verbal Communication (hierarchy name), Visual Works (hierarchy name), visual works (works), <visual works by material or technique>)

Classifications:

drawings (preferred)

Creation Date: 1831

Creator Display:

Thomas Shotter Boys (British, 1803 - 1874) (British Artist) [preferred,JPGM]

Boys, Thomas Shotter (English painter and engraver, 1803-1874) Qualifier: undetermined Extent: undetermined [500028054]

Locations:

Current: J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center (Los Angeles, Los Angeles county, California, United States) [500329598] J. Paul Getty Museum, J. Paul Getty Trust, Corporate Bodies (Corp. Body)

Repository Numbers: 2008.46

Other: Creation: België [1000063] Europe (continent), World (facet) (Geographic)

Display Materials: Watercolor over pencil

	watercolor (paint) [300015045]
	.......(Materials Facet, Materials (hierarchy name), materials (substances), <materials by function>, coating (material), <coating by form>, paint (coating), <paint by composition or origin>, water-base paint)

	pencils (drawing and writing equipment) [300022439]
	.......(Objects Facet, Furnishings and Equipment (hierarchy name), Tools and Equipment (hierarchy name), equipment, <equipment by process>, image-making equipment, <equipment for drafting| drawing| and writing>, <drafting| drawing and writing equipment by specific type>)

Dimensions: 26 x 36.8 cm (10 1/4 x 14 1/2 in.)

Cultures:

British (preferred)

General Subject:

cityscapes (preferred)

Specific Subjects:

	Our Lady of Hanswijk [700002933]
	.....(Our Lady of Hanswijk [700002933], Built Works by class: religious, ceremonial, and funerary structures [700009563], Built Works [700000001]) (CONA)

List/Hierarchical Position:

..... Movable Works

.......... Movable Works by class: drawings, paintings, prints, other two-dimensional media

Sources and Contributors:
A View of the Church of Our Lady of Hanswijk, Mechelen (Malines), Belgium	........ [JPGM,VP]
	........ J. Paul Getty Museum database for collections (2000-)
A View in a Continental Town, probably in Belgium	........ [JPGM,VP]
	........ J. Paul Getty Museum database for collections (2000-)

Subject: ....... [JPGM,VP]

Note:
English	..... [JPGM]
	..... J. Paul Getty Museum database for collections (2000-)