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Artists Who Painted Birmingham Landscapes

Edward Orlando Bowley (active 1840-1874) painted a picture of Witton Brook (see: https://artuk.org/discover/artists/bowley-edward-orlando-active-18401874 ). However the picture by Such given in Pedrocut's clipping (in #478) is titled "A View On Witton Brook" and is described as a winter scene - "the effect of a frost scene ... is one of the finest portions of the work; the looming misty appearance of the church spire and the towers of Aston Hall being almost magical."

The only picture I can find that might fit that bill is described as one of a "pair of Landscapes in Birmingham" :

1788021303575.png
See: https://www.invaluable.com/artist/s...JMVmAec1HvYweNokjczW-MLhxBe2HbZw4cXk3XmEzRARl

I've digitally lightened the original a bit in this image (below) so the detail is easier to see:
1788021423384.png
Is this the right picture??
 
I think you may well be on the right track there Neil. The 1851 census gives Edward Bowley living in Lichfield Road Aston, as an artist, landscape.

It could well be that Aris’s has got the wrong artist. Here is another of Bowley’s painting that may show Aston Church and Hall ?

IMG_1905.jpeg
 
That picture is labelled as being by Such not Bowley (who was a bit more flowery). I'm no expert in any way but Gathering Wood in the Snow seems just as gloomy as Such's other landscapes but a bit higher up / further along on the right.. Confusingly, despite the title, I can't see a single sheep picking up sticks so Such probably wasn't a perfectionist!

What could the Aris's journalist have been thinking of in the original newspaper report if it wasn't Such he had seen at the exhibition but just err... some old such & such..? The other thing is that Aris's BG seems to me to be a remarkably reliable source on the whole .....

Does this help?
 
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You are quite right! How many artistic Such's can there be? The pictures I've shown above are by Joseph Such.
The original newspaper clipping just referred to a "Mr Such".
So now the question is do we mean Joseph Such or William Thomas Such?
I have no idea because the Such paintings we have seen look so alike I can't tell Joseph from Thomas.
Except Thomas seems to prefer sheep to people,,,

I'm getting a bit lost...
 
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