William Prinsep (1794-1874) foi um pintor britânico que conviveu com Auguste Borget, aprendeu com George Chinnery e, muito provavelmente, também conheceu Marciano António Baptista... Três nomes maiores da pintura do século XIX que viveram em Macau.
William Prinsep (1794-1874) andou mais pela Índia e deixou uma vasta obra de pinturas, nomeadamente a óleo. Visitou Macau no Outono de 1838 tendo ficado espantado com a qualidade da obra de Borget e dito que o francês era um bom 'camarada' de ofício. Terá vivido no território até 1842 ano em que regressou a Inglaterra. Produziu várias obras no território (desenhos, aguarelas óleo sobre tela): incluindo um quadro a óleo do interior do templo de A-Ma, outro do exterior do templo e uma cena de rua em "Wa Kuong" (ver imagens abaixo).
William era o quinto de sete filhos (alguns seguiriam a carreira artística) de John Prinsep (1748–1830) militar britânico colocado em Bombaim em 1771 na Companhia das Índias Orientais. William já conhecia Chinnery (da Índia) - que não só o ensinou a pintar como também lhe fez vários retratos por volta de 1820: um a sós e outro com Prinsep e a mulher. Chinnery partiu para Macau em 1825 à pressa por causa das dívidas que acumulara e deixou alguns quadros por acabar admitindo-se que foi Prinsep a fazê-lo.
Nas suas memórias William escreveu assim sobre Chinnery: "When he ran away to China we found ourselves joint losers of more than 30000Rs. and the public pictures were most of them never painted at all. I found a message left for me that I might realise if I would a few half finished portraits which the badness of his health rendered it impossible for him to do more to. By an accident I found that he had placed his most valuable sketchbooks in the hands of a Frenchman of the name of L'Emarque from whom I easily procured them upon explanation of the circumstances. Chinnery was told they would be sold by auction if he did not redeem them himself which he never did, but circulated a story in China, which of course was run behind, that I had stolen them from him. The sum they and the few pictures alluded to produced was a mere trifle."
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William era o quinto de sete filhos (alguns seguiriam a carreira artística) de John Prinsep (1748–1830) militar britânico colocado em Bombaim em 1771 na Companhia das Índias Orientais. William já conhecia Chinnery (da Índia) - que não só o ensinou a pintar como também lhe fez vários retratos por volta de 1820: um a sós e outro com Prinsep e a mulher. Chinnery partiu para Macau em 1825 à pressa por causa das dívidas que acumulara e deixou alguns quadros por acabar admitindo-se que foi Prinsep a fazê-lo.
Nas suas memórias William escreveu assim sobre Chinnery: "When he ran away to China we found ourselves joint losers of more than 30000Rs. and the public pictures were most of them never painted at all. I found a message left for me that I might realise if I would a few half finished portraits which the badness of his health rendered it impossible for him to do more to. By an accident I found that he had placed his most valuable sketchbooks in the hands of a Frenchman of the name of L'Emarque from whom I easily procured them upon explanation of the circumstances. Chinnery was told they would be sold by auction if he did not redeem them himself which he never did, but circulated a story in China, which of course was run behind, that I had stolen them from him. The sum they and the few pictures alluded to produced was a mere trifle."
William Prinsep belonged to a large and well-known Anglo-Indian family, which produced a number of artists. His father, John Prinsep, of the East India Company, often regarded as the founder of the indigo trade in India, had seven sons, all of whom followed him to India as traders, lawyers or civil servants. William, the fifth son, worked for the House of Palmer & Co., bankers and merchants, in Calcutta. He took lessons in painting from George Chinnery and was a prolific amateur artist. Prinsep worked in Macao (where Chinnery had settled) from the late 1830s until his journey home to England in 1842. He met Borget there in the autumn of 1838 and returned to England in 1842.
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