The Alken Family of British Artists
The British artistic talent pool was greatly enhanced by the Alken family in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, particularly in the genre of sporting art.
Of Danish origin, Sefferien Alken (1717 to 1782), was the first of his family to immigrate to Britain where he worked as a wood carver, gilder and stonecarver.
Samuel Alken (1756 to 1815), his son, inherited Sefferien’s talent with his hands and studied as a sculptor at the National Academy School. In 1779 he published A New Book of Ornaments Designed and Etched by Samuel Alken, which established him as one of London’s leading engravers, particularly with the then newly developed process of aquatint. Samuel had four sons who went on to establish themselves as successful sporting artists: Samuel Alken (1784 to circa 1825), Henry Thomas Alken (1785 to 1851), George Alken (circa 1794 to circa 1837) and Sefferien John Alken (1796 to 1857).
Henry Thomas Alken was the most famous of the family’s painters, celebrated for his equestrian paintings, watercolors and engravings of hunting and racing scenes. His training as a pupil of the miniaturist John Thomas Barker Beaumont (1774 to 1841) is credited with the detailed precision exhibited by many of his works. Among his accomplishments is the book The National Sports of Great Britain. He is also known for introducing the humor of foxhunting mishaps into his graphic work in addition to the more traditional chase scenes.
Two of Henry’s son’s went on to productive artistic careers in the family’s third British generation: Samuel Henry Alken (1810 to 1894) , called Henry Alken Jr., and Sefferien Alken (1821 to 1873). Henry Jr. was born in Ipswich and is sometimes referred to as Samuel Henry Gordon Alken, a reference to his mother, Maria Gordon. He continued his father’s specialty of sporting subjects with works in both oil and watercolor. He painted racing, steeplechase and hunting scene, but also English coaching scenes, and fishing subjects as well as dogs. His works are typically signed H. Alken. Henry’s work was well received by the Victorian public, but his popularity did not save him from dying a poor man in a London workhouse. Henry’s brother Sefferien shared his artistic focus on the sporting world and his paintings and engravings are well regarded in today’s art market.
Reference note prepared by p4A.com editorial staff, 06.09.