James Herbert Snell was a British landscape painter working predominantly in oils and watercolours.
Snell was an interesting painter as his works span a transitional period for British art. Around 1880, French impressionism was in full swing and gaining the attention of many British artists. As a young man, he would’ve surely been influenced by the impressionists, yet also embedded into a deep British tradition for naturalism. As such, many of his paintings draw on both schools, with his later works becoming more impressionistic.
Snell trained at the Heatherley School of Fine Art and also undertook study trips to Paris and Amsterdam. His travels enabled him to collaborate with a range of diverse artists, which furthered his development.
In 1890, he was elected to the Royal Society of British Artists and in 1909 became a member of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters. He exhibited widely including 45 times at the Royal Academy.
Exhibited
Goupil Gallery, Grosvenor Gallery, Manchester City Art Gallery, Paris Salon, Ridley Art Club, Royal Academy, Royal Cambrian Academy, Royal Glasgow Institute of Fine Art, Royal Hibernian Academy, Royal Institute of Oil Painters, Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours, Royal Scottish Academy, Royal Society of British Artists, Royal Society of Artists in Birmingham, Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool.
Public Collections
Camden Local Studies & Archives Centre, St Ives Guildhall
Timeline
1861
Born in St Pancras, London, to James Snell, a clerk from Cheltenham, and Emma Snell (nee Borley).
1871
Residing in London at the family home.
Initially studied art under his father’s tuition.
Enrolled at the Heatherley School of Fine Art.
1880
Debuted at the Royal Academy with ‘Signs of Winter’ and ‘The Moon All Pale In Sunlit Skies’.
1881
Lodging in Burnham, Buckinghamshire. Occupation listed as ‘painter artist’.
1890
Elected a member of the Royal Society of British Artists.
1891
Residing in London with his four sisters.
1900
Married Emmeline Eliza Hards from Yalding, Kent.
1901
Residing in London.
1909
Elected a member of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters.
1911
Residing in London with his wife, Emmeline.
1921
Residing in London with his wife, Emmeline.
1935
Died in London and buried at Camden.
Obituary from the Gloucestershire Echo
Mr James Herbert Snell, a member of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters, died in London yesterday at the age of 73. Mr Snell, who first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1880, began to study art at an early age under his father, Mr James Snell of Cheltenham. At that time the Cheltenham School of Art occupied the building which is now the linotype room of the ‘Echo’ Office.