Henry William Brewer began his professional career in Germany, where he lived for several years and made a name for himself depicting medieval buildings. His drawings impressed with their masterful attention to detail and the interplay of light and shadow. In Germany he married and started a family. His older children were born in Bavaria. Two of his sons later also achieved fame as artists and engravers. His eldest son became an organist and writer.
Brower had trained as an architectural draftsman in Norwich, England, under one of the foremost architectural painters of his day. In addition to drawing lessons, however, he also attended courses in oil painting and was a student at King's College in London, where his father was a professor of literature. After returning from Germany, he gained fame in England mainly for his panoramic paintings and his historical reconstructions. His drawings were published in the important architectural journals of his time. Brewer became a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects. From 1858 he exhibited frequently at the Royal Academy and major galleries in London. He is best known for a series of views of London showing the city at the time of Henry VIII, which later became known as the "Old London illustrated". Bird's eye views of various British cities were also particularly popular. Later, views of cities in mainland Europe were also added.
The royal family also subsequently became aware of the artist and Henry William Brewer received a number of commissions from the royal family. Most notable was an 1869 commission from Queen Victoria, for whom he produced a series of watercolors of her royal mausoleum at Frogmore, the resting place of Albert, the Prince Consort, and herself. The Queen herself appears in some of these paintings.
Great attention was paid to the conversion of Brewer and his family to the Catholic Church. The artist, like his father, belonged to the Oxford Movement. This was influenced by the well-known French architect and artist Augustus Pugin, who was himself a Catholic. His in-depth study of religion and his commitment to the Catholic community then influenced his work, which includes a number of churches in England, Germany, Hungary and Belgium. He is also known to have painted watercolors in a Catholic seminary in England. In addition to his artistic work, Brewer also taught illustration at a college. One particular course was devoted to the depiction of perspectives.
Brewer died in 1903. More than a hundred works by Henry William Brewer are now in London's Victoria & Albert Museum. The Royal Collection also owns 26 of his works.
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.jpg "A Bird")
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.jpg "A Bird")
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.jpg "Bird")
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.jpg "Alt Breisach, on the Rhine by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "Mansfield College, the New Nonconformist College at Oxford by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "The Jubilee Celebrations at Windsor, the Castle Illuminated by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "Bird")
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.jpg "The Crisis in Egypt, Panoramic View of Cairo by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "St Paul")
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.jpg "The Town Hall, Pietermaritzburg, Totally Destroyed by Fire last week by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "The construction of Tower Bridge, London by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "The Fiftieth Anniversary of Marlborough College, 1843-1893 by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "Birmingham, Its Buildings and Industries by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "The Funeral of the Late Sir Edwin Landseer, the Artist")
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.jpg "The Return of the Guards from the Soudan, responding to the Duke of Cambridge")
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.jpg "King")
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.jpg "People and Places in Vienna by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "St Werburgh")
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.jpg "Four Flemish Town Halls, hints for our New Law Courts by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "The Great Fire in the City, Church of St Mary Magdalene, Knightrider Street, After the Conflagration by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "The Roman Catholic Church of St Mary, Moorfields, City, which is About to be Pulled Down by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "The New Admiralty Offices by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "The Visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales to the Duke of Devonshire, Chatsworth House Illuminated by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "The New Spanish Church at Spanish Place, Manchester Square, built to replace the Old Chapel of the Spanish Embassy by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "The Tower of London, from the South by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "The Illuminations on Jubilee Night, the Bank and the Royal Exchange by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "Ham House, Near Richmond by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "The New National British Gallery by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "Kensington Palace by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "The Royal Visit to the Indian Museum, South Kensington by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "Blackfriars Hall, Norwich, originally the Choir of the Old Dominican Church by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "The Funeral of HRH the Late Duke of Clarence and Avondale, KG, KP, the Burial Service in St George")
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.jpg "The Old Buildings, Lincoln")
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.jpg "Edinburgh Illustrated, Holyrood by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "The Tomb of Henry VII, in Westminster Abbey by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "The Floods in France by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "Glasgow Illustrated, the Cathedral by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "Archaeological Sketches in and about Tours by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "Bird")
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.jpg "Banquet of the Mayors of England and Wales at York, Sketches in the City by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "View of Winchester Cathedral by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "Manchester Illustrated, the New Town Hall by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "Kensington Palace by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "The Martyrs")
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.jpg "The Fire at Hyde Park Court, Albert Gate by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "Aerial View of Westminster Abbey and the Palace of Westminster in the Time of Henry VIII by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "Opening of the New Choir, Rochester Cathedral and Antiquities in the City by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "Sketches in and about Peterborough by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "The Prince and Princess of Wales at Winchester by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "The Hotel Cecil by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "Old St Paul")
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.jpg "The West Front of Peterborough Cathedral in need of repair by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "Rood Screen from Bois-le-Duc Cathedral, in the New Court of the Kensington Museum by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "Chatsworth by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "Bird")
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.jpg "The Floods in Buda-Pesth, Hungary by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "Kensington Palace in its Palmy Days, George II and Queen Caroline in the Orangery by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "The View from St George")
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.jpg "Scenes on the Bedford and Northampton Railway, in the Valley of the Ouse by Henry William Brewer")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1058823).jpg "The Charterhouse of Val de Cristo, near Segorbe (engraving) by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "The Festival of the Three Choirs at Worcester, Sketches of the Cathedral by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "The Restoration of Nelson")
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.jpg "The Old Tabard Inn, Southwark, Shortly to be Pulled Down by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "The End of the Burmese War, and the Occupation of Mandalay by British Troops, General View of the City by Henry William Brewer")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1064838).jpg "Mainz Cathedral, as in time of St Ignatius by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "The Public Record Office by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "The Commemoration of the Queen")
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.jpg "Newgate, from the West by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "The proposed Embankment at Westminster, the Bill for which is to be laid before Parliament by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "The Banqueting Hall, Crosby Hall, London by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "Oxford Illustrated by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "God Save the Queen, the Serenade in the Quadrangle at Windsor Castle on Her Majesty")
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.jpg "The Chapter House, Westminster Abbey by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "The Duke of Wellington")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1064840).jpg "Les Jacobins, Dominican Priory, Paris, time of St Ignatius by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "Some of the Old City Churches by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "London Bridge and its Surroundings at about the year 1600, from")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1063336).jpg "Abbey of St Germain-des-Pres, time of St Ignatius by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "The Hotel Cecil by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "Edinburgh Illustrated by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "London Bridge and its Surroundings about the Year 1600 by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "Spanish Hospital of St James of Compostella, Paris, Restored, Time of St Ignatius by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "Cambridge Illustrated by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "The Imperial Meeting at Kremsier by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "The City of London and its Environs in the Time of Henry VIII, from the East by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "The Last of the Old Arctic Ship Resolute by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "Magdalen Bridge, Oxford, the Widening of Which Has Been Proposed by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "College of Montaigu, Paris, Time of St Ignatius, in which the Saint Made His Classical Studies by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "View of the Projected New Central Infirmary at Derby, the Foundation Stone of which was laid by Her Majesty the Queen on Thursday Last by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "The Royal Route from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey on Jubilee Day, 21 June by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "Bird")
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.jpg "Bristol Illustrated, Prominent Buildings in the City by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "Wolferton Church, near Sandringham by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "Meeting of the Church Congress at Swansea, Ecclesiological Architecture in the Neighbourhood by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "Restoration of St Bartholomew")
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.jpg "The Corporation of London by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "The Queen")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1066329).jpg "Doorway of the Abbey Church, Nantua by Henry William Brewer")
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.jpg "Mr Beerbohm Tree")
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.jpg "The Roman Catholic Church of St Mary, Moorfields, City, which is about to be pulled down by Henry William Brewer")
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