Robert Howlett

Robert Howlett
Born(1831-07-03)3 July 1831[1]
Theberton, Suffolk,[1] England
Died2 December 1858(1858-12-02) (aged 27)
London, England
OccupationPhotographer

Robert Howlett (3 July 1831[a][1] – 2 December 1858)[2][3][4][5] was a British pioneering photographer whose pictures are widely exhibited in major galleries. Howlett produced portraits of Crimean War heroes,[6] genre scenes and landscapes. His photographs include the iconic picture of Isambard Kingdom Brunel which was part of a commission by the London-based weekly newspaper Illustrated Times[7][8] to document the construction of the world's largest steamship, the SS Great Eastern.[3]

He exhibited at the London Photographic Society and published On the Various Methods of Printing Photographic Pictures upon Paper, with Suggestions for Their Preservation.[3][9] He worked in partnership with Joseph Cundall[3][10] at "The Photographic Institution" at New Bond Street, London.[9][11]

Howlett made photographic studies for the artist William Powell Frith to assist him on his vast modern panorama painting The Derby Day (1856–58; Tate, London) which was exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts in 1858.[5]

Howlett was commissioned by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert to photograph the frescoes in the new drawing-room at Buckingham Palace,[1] make copies of the paintings by Raphael and make a series of portraits called 'Crimean Heroes'[2][6] which was exhibited in 1857 the Photographic Society of London's annual exhibition.[2]

Howlett died in 1858, aged 27. His death was apparently due to typhoid (rather than as a result of over-exposure to dangerous chemicals, as was suggested by some at the time, a myth that has continued to this day). The Illustrated Times praised him as "one of the most skillful photographers of the day."[7]

Prints from Howlett's photographs were published posthumously by his late partners Cundall & Downes under their own name, and by the London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company.[5]

  1. ^ a b c d The Light Shone and Was Spent: Robert Howlett and the Power of Photography
  2. ^ a b c "Oxford Dictionary of Biography, Link to entry for Robert Howlett".
  3. ^ a b c d "World Wide Art Resources, Biography: Artist: Robert Howlett (1831–1858)".
  4. ^ "Audio slideshow: Brunel's achievements revisited". 29 November 2008 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
  5. ^ a b c "Answers - The Most Trusted Place for Answering Life's Questions". Answers.
  6. ^ a b "San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Image of Crimean Braves 1856, by Robert Howlett and John Cundall".
  7. ^ a b Jones, Jonathan (17 June 2000). "Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Robert Howlett (1857)". The Guardian.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference V&A 1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ a b Howlett, Robert (4 March 1856). "On the Various Methods of Printing Photographic Pictures Upon Paper: With Suggestions for Their Preservation". Sampson Low, Son & Company – via Google Books.
  10. ^ "National Portrait Gallery, Notes about Robert Howlett".
  11. ^ Cartage, Biography of Joseph Cundall


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