Duncan, Edward

Edward Duncan (October 21, 1803 - April 11, 1882) was a British engraver and watercolorist known for his paintings of coastal and naval scenes. He was born in London and apprenticed with Robert Havell (the Elder), an aquatint engraver, in Marylebone. Havell and his son, Robert Havell, Jr., worked together to produce aquatint engravings of 240 drawings by famed naturalist John James Audubon, which became Birds of America. Havell, Sr. was also brothers with the painter William Havell, who was a founding member of the Society of Painters in Watercolours (later the Royal Watercolour Society). Duncan's close encounter with William Havell and his work sparked his lifelong interest in drawing and watercolor, though he continued to work primarily as an engraver for a time, opening his own engraving studio in the early 1820s. From 1826, he undertook a very productive partnership with William John Huggins (1781 - 1845), the official artist to both King William IV and King George IV, whose maritime paintings sparked a fascination in Ducan that would last the rest of his career. Around the year 1835, Duncan married Huggins' daughter Berthia, cementing their close professional and personal relationship. Having enjoyed the tutelage of the Havells and Huggins and having experimenting with a wide variety of methods, including oil painting, lithography, etching, and several types of engraving, Duncan was considered among the most technically gifted British artists of his day. He joined the Royal Watercolour Society, exhibited dozens of times with the Royal Academy and the Society of British Artists, and produced hundreds of works on a variety of themes. He was best known, however, for his coastal and nautical scenes (travelling annually to the Gower Peninsula in Wales to paint), as well as pastoral scenes set in southern England. His son, Walter Duncan (1847 - 1932) was also an accomplished watercolorist and one of the principal artists of the The Illustrated London News.