Wallis, George Augustus (1761 – 1847) – The Invention of the Corinthian Order.

Wallis is a fascinating but obscure artist, largely because most of his working life was spent on the Continent. He went to Italy in 1788 and became deeply ensconced in the community of foreign artists in Naples and Rome. His support of the Revolution meant he was unwelcome in Britain and so after a brief return home in 1806 he lived for the rest of his life in Spain, Germany (where many of his works can be found) and Florence, where he settled in 1818. This work dates from that time and is stylistically similar to the frescoes he made there. Wallis also dealt in art, while in Spain acquiring the Rokeby Venus for William Buchanan. This watercolour will feature in a forthcoming monograph on Wallis that Richard Stephens is writing for the Walpole Society, the first English-language study in 50 years. If you have a work by Wallis, do please contact us and we will let Richard know.