Alfred de Breanski RBA (1852-1928) was a celebrated British painter of landscapes and considered one of the finest proponents of naturalism.
Born in London, de Breanski’s father, Antoni Leopold, was Polish, hailing from the village of Baranów. He’d arrived in the United Kingdom from Ostend, Belgium, as a military refugee, with his wife Jeanne Henriette De Breanski, who was French. They settled in London and Alfred de Breanski was one of six children, of which three became artists.
As a boy, he developed a keen ability for drawing, winning various prizes at the Greenwich Proprietary School, along with noteworthy plaudits from the local press. One reporter praising “his fine subdued tone and harmonious colouring” and stating that “these paintings would entitle them to a place in any gallery where the best works of art are hung upon the walls.”
At 17, he debuted at the Royal Society of British Artists and three years later graced the hallowed walls of the prestigious Royal Academy. Already, he’d developed a signature style and soon became known for his misty upland views often quietened by a restful mood.
Drawn to the undulating landscapes of north Wales, he undertook numerous sketching tours for inspiration, along with visits to the highlands of Scotland. On one of his Welsh tours, he met the artist Annie Roberts (1855-1946), and the pair would eventually wed in the picturesque Llantysilio Parish in Denbighshire.
By 1880, he was considered as one of the foremost landscape painters of his generation and referred to in the same breath as the eminent Benjamin Williams Leader (1831-1923). Following an exhibition, one critic described him as “following fast upon his footsteps”.
De Breakski’s version of British naturalism coupled with a fair degree of rose-tinted idealisation became exceedingly popular with the general public. Viewers were captivated by vistas they could relate to, which were beautifully poised amid flattering light.
In 1890, he was elected a member of the Royal Society of British Artists, while also gaining a significant commission from Frost & Reed, an art dealership in London. This famous old gallery arranged an extensive exhibition of his canvases, of which all were sold. They requested another 30 or so the following year. The critics were in raptures:
“The present display gives the result of sketching during the past summer in the lake districts of England, Scotland, and Wales, and throughout romantic parts of the Thames valley; and the many admirers of the artist's agreeable style will be delighted to inspect a score of frames most of which evince his pleasant mannerism.”
However, faced with an abundance of work, during this period he was also criticised occasionally for the similarity of his views. It would've been an extraordinarily challenging time, having to satisfy demand while also finding space to study from nature.
His style remained consistent for the remainder of his career and, with the advent of emerging ‘modern’ styles, he gradually faded from the public eye. Today, he’s recognised as one of Britain’s most celebrated landscape painters with several of his works reaching over £50,000 at auction.
He’s represented in numerous public collections including Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum and Southampton City Art Gallery.
Exhibited
Royal Academy, Royal Society of British Artists, Royal Institute of Oil Painters, Royal Cambrian Academy, Bristol Fine Art Academy, Crystal Palace Galleries, Dudley Gallery, Arthur Tooth & Sons and the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool.
Public Collections
Cartwright Hall Art Gallery, Central Library, Bromley, Chertsey Museum, Chiswick Local Studies Library, Discover Bucks Museum, Ferens Art Gallery, Fylde Council Town Hall, Glasgow Museums Resource Centre (GMRC), Grosvenor Museum, Grundy Art Gallery, Hampshire Cultural Trust Headquarters, Winchester (Hampshire County Council’s Fine Art Collection), Laing Art Gallery, McLean Museum and Art Gallery, Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, Moorlands House, Staffordshire Moorlands District Council, Museum of Croydon, Paisley Museum and Art Galleries, Poole Museum, Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum, Shipley Art Gallery, South Shields Museum and Art Gallery, Southampton City Art Gallery, The Royal Agricultural University Collection, Torre Abbey Museum, Wolverhampton Art Gallery.
Timeline
1852
Born in St Pancras, London, to Antoni Leopold Stanislas Breański, a teacher of French, German and mathematics, and Jeanne Henriette De Breanski (nee Salmon).
1861
Lived with his family in Greenwich, Kent.
1863
Awarded a certificate for model drawing at the Greenwich Proprietary School.
1866
Awarded an honorary certificate for drawing at the Greenwich Proprietary School.
Mentioned in the Kentish Mercury following an exhibition of works at the Greenwich Proprietary School.
“Alfred de Bréanski, who earned so much commendation at Midsummer last, figured this time as the most conspicuous amongst the boys, he being represented by five large landscapes in oil-colours, besides several well executed mechanical drawings; his pictures of ‘A Summer's Evening,’ and its companion, ‘A Winter's Evening.’ being particularly admired: the fine subdued tone and harmonious colouring of these paintings would entitle them to a place in any gallery where the best works of art are hung upon the walls. A small painting, by the same pupil, of Dartmouth Castle, taken from a woodcut and coloured from the boy's own fancy, gives promise of future power and excellency; indeed, we cannot help predicting something entirely original from this pupil before long.”
1869
Debuted at the Royal Society of British Artists.
1871
Lived with his family in Greenwich, Kent. Occupation recorded as ‘Landscape Painter’.
1872
Debuted at the Royal Academy with two landscape paintings.
1873
Married the artist Annie Roberts (1855-1946) in Llantysilio Parish, Denbighshire, Wales.
1874
Mentioned in the Woolwich Gazette.
“Greenwich Talent At The Royal Academy. Mr. Alfred de Breanski, a young artist only 22 years of age, son of parents who for many years have resided at Greenwich, and whose works at previous exhibitions of the Royal Academy have been favourably noticed, has this year succeeded in obtaining admittance of five out of six pictures for entry, one of which, hanging in room 1, is representative of a Berkshire lane. Two others, in room 2, are ‘Gipsies Encamping in a Birch Wood’ and ‘The Banks of the Thames’ (Cookham Meadows); whilst in rooms 3 and 5 are paintings of ‘Rhayadr-y-Wennol’ (The Swallow Falls), and ‘September.’”
1875
Mentioned in the Kentish Mercury.
“Mr. Alfred de Breanski. We have been favoured with a private view of paintings by this rising young artist, at his studio, 6, Limes Villas, Lewisham, previous to their removal to the Crystal Palace Gallery; the subjects being ‘A flood on the Lledr at Bettws-y-Coed;’ ‘Moonlight off Brighton;’ and ‘The Trosacks’ the two former being productions of great merit, and the latter (a painting 9ft. 6in. by 7ft.) a very fine rendering of bold Scotch mountain scenery, the tone throughout being eminently effective. We may add that this gentleman obtained places for two of his pictures at the Exhibition of the Royal Academy last year, the subjects being ‘Sept., (St. Paul's Cray Common),’ and ‘Gipsies encamping in a birchwood.’ We most heartily wish Mr. Breanski that success in his profession which his labours so deservedly entitle him to.”
Mentioned in the Wrexham Guardian and Denbighshire and Flintshire Advertiser
“Llangollen. The Cambrian Fine Art Exhibition. Mr Alfred de Breanski, a gentleman well known in art circles, will open a fine art exhibition at the Assembly Rooms on Monday next. The exhibition is under distinguished patronage, and comprises a number of works by eminent artists. We trust it will be liberally supported by the resident gentry and the inhabitants of the town and neighbourhood.”
1881
Lived in Cookham, Berkshire, with his wife, four children and two servants. Occupation recorded as ‘Artist - Landscape Painter’. His wife is also recorded as an artist.
1885
Mentioned in the Western Daily Press following an exhibition at Messrs Tooth and Son’s.
“Mr B. W. Leader sends a large work taken from his happy hunting grounds in North Wales, and two smaller subjects. Mr Alfred de Breanski, following fast upon his footsteps, contributes a most imposing and richly coloured sunset at Great Marlow - a fine work in every sense of the word.”
1889
Mentioned in the Kentish Mercury.
“Mr. Alfred de Breanski has, for the eighth time, been awarded a silver medal, for a picture on exhibition at the Crystal Palace Art Gallery.”
1890
Elected a member of the Royal Society of British Artists.
Mentioned in the Western Daily Press.
“An unusually attractive exhibition of pictures will, we understand, shortly be held at Messrs Frost and Reed's Clare Street Gallery. The pictures are the work of Mr Alfred de Breanski, who has been painting for a considerable time in North Wales and upon the Thames for the special purpose of this exhibition. Mr Breanski is an artist of considerable reputation in London, where he resides, but he is equally well known in Bristol, having been a most successful exhibitor at the Fine Arts Academy for a considerable period.”
Mentioned in the Western Daily Press following an exhibition at Messrs Frost and Reed.
“At the gallery of Messrs Frost and Reed, art publishers, Clare Street, twenty productions in oil from the easel of Alfred de Breanski are being exhibited. This artist possesses a good reputation in the metropolis, and his works have frequently enriched collections in our city. The present display gives the result of sketching during the past summer in the lake districts of England, Scotland, and Wales, and throughout romantic parts of the Thames valley; and the many admirers of the artist's agreeable style will be delighted to inspect a score of frames most of which evince his pleasant mannerism.
Amongst those examples in which delicate and poetical treatment are manifest, may be mentioned ‘Sunrise,’ showing Ben Venne, from the Silver Strand, North Britain; ‘Grasmere, Westmoreland;’ ‘Moonlight, Llanberis Lake;’ and ‘The Vale of Llangollen.’ All of these are in perfect keeping with the features of the scenes portrayed; and the balance of light and shade and colour is so just, and the means employed so perfectly adapted to the artist's purpose, that no sense of incompleteness remains.
The examples are, indeed, very successful in their rendering of the beauties of nature, particularly in the attractive and undefinable mystery of distances, and in the impalpable tenderness of atmospheric gradations. Some specimens in the collection exhibit more strength and the effects are striking. ‘Cader Idris, from Gwernan Lake,’ affords a sunset view of the mountainous region, after rain, boldly treated; and ‘Derwentwater, from Friars Craig,’ and ‘The Cormorant's Haunt, Glen Mevis, North Britain,’ manifest realism and observation of nature such as might be expected from the well-skilled hand of the artist. In Dne or two works the picturesque effects are different from those generally attempted by Mr Breanski, ‘Little Marlow Village,’ for example, which is fresh and bright. Among the river subjects may be instanced ‘Quarry Wood, Marlow’ and ‘Henley-on-Thames,’ the latter taken at sunset. In both of these the peculiar soft grace of colour is conspicuous, and their attributes find expression in sweet amenity of treatment and quiet unforced breadth.”
1891
Lived with his wife and four children in Greenwich, Kent. Occupation recorded as ‘Artist (Landscape Painter)’.
Mentioned in The Bristol Mercury following an exhibition at Messrs Frost and Reed.
“After the success which attended the exhibition of Alfred de Breanski's Jake pictures last year, where every canvas was sold, it is not surprising to find that Messrs Frost and Reed commissioned the artist to paint another series of pictures of the English lake district. The commission has resulted in a collection of thirty transcripts of the most romantic and picturesque scenes in the English lake district, and they are to be on private view tomorrow at the Clare street gallery. They seem to surpass the last collection in dainty effect of harmonious colouring, tenderness of treatment, and facile command of aerial perspective.
In Mr Breanski's rendering of reposeful lake scenes, vaporous effects in deep valleys, and veiled sunlight descending through mountain mist, there is an artistic sharm which gives to almost every picture some special attraction; and there is little doubt that the present collection will quickly appeal to purchasers. Soft and rich in tone, with something of the finish of a miniature, is ‘Rydal Water,’ with its background of heather clad hill suffused with the haze of heat, and foreground of rushes and rock bordering the calm lake. There is solid painting in ‘Near Pelter Bridge,’ with the tops of the lofty hills glowing with the early Ennrise. Rich as well as delicate is the deep colouring of the verdure-clad hills in a charming transcript of ‘Newby Bridge, Windermere.’ In ‘Tarn Hawes and Langdale Pikes’ the hills are treated with rugged force, and striking contrasts of colour are obtained by the bold handling of the sunlight as it flecks the lake with its golden rays.
There is real sentiment in the delicately touched and silvery toned transcript of ‘Lodore, Derwentwater,’ and hill, lake, and foliage are rendered with a tenderness and refinement which make this one of the choicest pictures in the gallery. The vivid sunset scene, ‘The Derwent, Keswick,’ so glows with colour that it wants relief. In No. 12, ‘Pillar Mountain-View from Red Pike,’ we have dexterous drawing with equally clever and realistic treatment of the effect of sunlight streaming through the mist on a mountain side. For graceful composition and refined feeling it singles itself out for notice, and it will be much admired.
There are Sumptuous effects of colour in No. 13, ‘Brothers water,’ and with all its subtle shading it is a vigorous work, and a fine example of the artist's skill. Very suggestive is ‘Honister Crag’ by moonlight, a bold and clever effort by which the artist has reproduced a mystic, weird, and aerie scene. ‘Crammock Water’ is welcome for its delicacy of touch and the skilful treatment of the sky; and another example of these characteristics of Alfred de Breanski will be found in ‘Easedale Tarn,’ where the painting of ridge and grasses bordering the lake is a study. The sunset scene, ‘Head of Derwentwater,’ will find a ready purchaser, and those fond of reposeful scenes will be won by ‘Bydal from the Ambleside road’.”
Mentioned in the Western Daily Press.
“The new fine art gallery of Messrs Frost and Reed, 8, Clare Street, in itself a handsome room, is at the present time rendered additionally attractive by thirty pictures painted by Mr Alfred de Breanski, who, although a metropolitan artist, has so frequently sent in works for the exhibitions at the Academy in Queen's Road that local connoisseurs must be familiar with his charming style. He possesses a keen eye for the beautiful in nature, and is able to give expression to those poetical ideas which animate him in refined transcripts of picturesque views.
The present series is devoted to English lake subjects, where loveliness and grandeur are displayed. Byron, when praising the sublime scenery in the Scotch Highlands, at the expense of the prospects to the south of the Tweed, exclaimed: ‘England, thy beauties are tame and domestic.’ It has been the mission of Mr De Breanski to exemplify the majesty of some English localities, and the representation of portions of Cumberland and Westmorland which have inspired his talent cannot fail to gratify those lovers of nature who inspect them.
A word of praise is due to the art publishers exhibiting the pictures, which are all of cabinet size, display thirty frames, with subjects inevitably more or less similar, so as to avoid an air of monotony, required some tact, and Mesars Frost and Reed by the tasteful manner in which they have disposed the different examples, add a charm to the efforts of the limner. A capital handbook of poetical extracts appropriate to the specimens has been compiled by Mr John Taylor, each subject selected for delineation by the artist being accompanied by lines, chiefly, as may be supposed, from Wordsworth, referring to the scene.
Not that Mr Breanski has painted up to the poetry, as in most instances it can only in very general terms be said to allude to his canvas. For instance, a view styled ‘Lodore, Derwentwater,’ is accompanied by four lines from that clever effusion of Southey in which is described how ‘the water comes down at Lodore.’ Mr de Breanski, in discharging his commission, sought for views of prominent objects under varying atmospheric influences. His mountains and meres are radiant with sunny splendour, or they are suffused in a mild glow, or they are dark with stormy portents. Rydal Water, Windermere, Langdale Pikes, Grasmere, Ullswater, Coniston Lake, Thirimere, and Derwentwater have been gazed at by the artist under varying conditions, and as he noted the effect which nature's different moods produced on height and in valley, foaming torrent and placid lake, he transferred them with a skill that every spectator familiar with the locality must admit.
Sometimes he seems to have caught the shadowy spectacle of ‘vague mountains and aural sky;’ at others ‘the bosom of the steady lake’ and the firm craggy steep have arrested his attention; but wherever the eye turns the gallery it cannot but rest upon some scene which ‘breathes forth a life-like pleasure.’ The views depicted are rendered with truth, and appear to be faithfully descriptive of the romantic districts, the imitation of nature being at once discriminating and commendable. The freshness of atmospheric effects, nice feeling of sentiment, and qualities must appeal to all who delight in transcripts of poetical suggestiveness. Newlands Vale, a bit near Peltor Bridge, and Styhead Farm afford charming morning views; and Thirlmere, Blea Tarn, and the head of Derwentwater are shown under evening influences. Pleasing effects of airy, mountain, and placid expanse of water afford characteristic records of the English lake district, and testify that Mr Breanski, during the period which he spent in the different spots, employed his talent to good purpose.”
1911
Listed as a visitor at a property in Whitstable, Kent. Occupation recorded as ‘Artist’. He considered his nationality to be French by parentage.
1928
Died in Dartford, Kent.