ARTHUR CROFT (BRITISH, 1828-1902)

Footnote
Arthur Croft (1828-1902) was a British watercolour artist. He was one of six children of the architect John Croft. Of the children, three became artists (John, Marian and Arthur), and one (Adolphus) became an architect, and they received their early training in watercolours by colouring their father’s architectural sketches.

Besides this early apprenticeship with his father, Arthur received no formal training, but he gained considerable success for his often large scale watercolour landscapes, and he exhibited views of Switzerland, Algeria, America and New Zealand, as well as England and Wales, at the Royal Academy between 1868 and 1893. In 1883, he exhibited a watercolour that was among the largest ever shown there (over 8 feet or 2.5 m high).  

In mid-life, Arthur met and married the American heiress and businesswoman Caroline Brewer after meeting her on a painting tour of Europe, and subsequent to their marriage, he moved from his home in St. John’s Wood to New York, where he maintained a studio and continued to paint and exhibit. On their eventual return to the UK, he purchased the estate South Park in Wadhurst, East Sussex, which had been designed and built by his brother Adolphus Croft, and there he passed the remainder of his life.

Although Arthur failed to be elected to the Society of Painters in Watercolour, he was a member of the Alpine Club, London, and his paintings were popular.  After his death, they were sold by auction from South Park, fetching prices ranging from 50 to nearly 200 guineas. Arthur Croft also has pictures in the collections of the British Museum, The Victoria and Albert Museum, and Museum Wales.