Thomas Shotter Boys 1803-1874

Boys arrived in Paris in 1823 and for the first few years of his life there, he made his living as an engraver and few watercolours by him can be securely dated to before 1827-28.  Boys had become a close friend of Richard Parkes Bonington in the last few years of the latter's life and his influence is evident in the present watercolour. The fluid handling shows an artist increasingly confident in his own ability. This is a likely to be a view on the Normandy coast. A view of the Gateway at Calais also dated 1830 was sold in these Rooms on 14th November 1991, lot 125 and a similar beach scene from the same year was sold here on 15th July 1993, lot 109