{"product_id":"a-family-scene-in-pompeii-1","title":"A Family Scene in Pompeii","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eRosa Maud \/ MIranda Banks ( 1883 - 1943 ? ), was an English watercolourist and draughtswoman. Rosa Banks was a amateur artist, a British painter who was active during the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. She was actively painting during the Victorian and Edwardian eras, she painted recreationally and as a private hobby rather than exhibiting her work commercially or professionally, she was clearly an extremely competent artist and her work is certainly comparable to the professional artists of her day, and I expect the only hindrance to her commercial progress was because of her personal and financial status which was held in high regard. Her biography is not preserved in the mainstream art history references or dictionaries of painters. She was the daughter of John Banks ( ? - 1904 ) a highly successful and prominent banker in his day and the family resided over the Bank of England in Threadneedle Street London. Consequently home life for Rosa Banks was directly influenced by the career of her prominent and wealthy family, she was in effect a lady of leisure where study and the luxury of art creation was her vocation. her socioeconomic and educational circumstances allowed her to be raised by a formidable household of servants, she excelled academically and young women from upper middle class families were tutored in painting an essential accomplishment at the time, and they were encouraged to copy rather than invent compositions they were honed to copy the masters as in this painting which is a direct and extremely accomplished copy of Pierre Olivier Joseph Coomans ( 1816-1889 ). The original painting is in oil paint. The setting is a meticulously reconstructed Roman atrium featuring vibrant Pompeian walls adorned with mythical figures and a classical water feature. The room is decorated with vases, lamps and an animal skin rug all of which denote an air of luxury that might well be familiar with the painter and may well be the reason for this beautifully executed copy. Rosa Banks was well travelled and in her later years it shows according to the 1911 census, that she was living with her mother in Reigate Surrey, not far from where I discovered this painting, and I conclude that the picture has remained with the original family until now. It was customary for amateur painters to gift their works to friends and family, and this picture being of exceptional quality was the very reason it has been held onto for so many years and within the immediate location of the family dwelling. This watercolor has been professionally cleaned and framed by our well respected conservator and framer. The picture is unsigned by Rosa Banks but it is ascribed to the reverse side and all the accompanying paintings and literature is in her name, this was bought as a collection of her works, all are watercolors which will be conserved and listed on this website at some point in the future.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rosa Maud Banks","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":58869085471065,"sku":"KA 443","price":4250.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0969\/9957\/1801\/files\/1_943f238a-b5ec-4fe6-ad90-fd6b615f1b15.png?v=1787239452","url":"https:\/\/vaughanfineart.im\/products\/a-family-scene-in-pompeii-1","provider":"Vaughan Fine Art","version":"1.0","type":"link"}