Edward Calvert

Edward Calvert 1799-1883, English painter and engraver. A great admirer of William Blake, Calvert, along with several of his contemporaries, formed a group around Blake called the Brotherhood of the Ancients. Calvert's art celebrated the life of primitive society. In his later work he was deeply influenced by a visit in 1844 to Greece.

Bibliography: See L. Binyon, The Followers of William Blake (1925).

Calvert, Edward (1799–1883). English painter and wood engraver. The son of a soldier, he spent five years in the navy, before moving to London in 1824 and studying at the Royal Academy. He was introduced to Blake and became one of his group of followers known as the Ancients. Even before this, however, he had created an outstanding work that was very much in Blake's spirit—A Primitive City (1822, BM, London), a tiny watercolour full of poetic ardour. Calvert continued in this vein for about a decade, but after producing his masterpiece in wood engraving, The Chamber Idyll (1831), he created no more work of comparable quality. From this time he became something of a recluse and painted mainly for his own pleasure (he was wealthy and had no need to sell his work). Many of his later pictures were inspired by his love of ancient Greece.

Calvert, Edward (b Appledore, Devon, 20 Sept. 1799; d London, 14 July 1883). English painter and wood engraver. The son of a soldier, he spent five years in the navy, before moving to London in 1824 and studying at the Royal Academy. He was introduced to William Blake and became one of his group of followers known as the Ancients. Even before this, however, he had created an outstanding work that was very much in Blake's spirit—A Primitive City (1822, BM, London), a tiny watercolour full of poetic ardour. Calvert continued in this vein for about a decade, but after producing his masterpiece in wood engraving, The Chamber Idyll (1831), he created no more work of comparable quality. From this time he became something of a recluse and painted mainly for his own pleasure (he was wealthy and had no need to sell his work). Many of his later pictures were inspired by his love of ancient Greece.