Myles Birket FOSTER
1825–1899, England
Also known as: BF
"Probably the most popular landscape painter from the 1860's onwards was Birket Foster. Foster was a wood engraver and book illustrator by training, and he brought the sharpness and minuteness of an engraver's eye to bear on the art of watercolour. One of the books he illustrated was the "Year Book of the Country by William and Mary Howitt, authors of many popular mid-Victorian books about the countryside, such as "The Rural Life of England" (1838). Finding the traditional colour wash style uncongenial, Foster adopted the Pre-Raphaelitemethod of working over a white ground, using a stipple technique with very fine brushes...Foster's enchanting visions of the English countryside with their picturesque cottages, happy villagers and cheerful children, are some of the most enduringly popular of all images of England." "Paradise Lost, Paintings of English Country Life and Landscape 1850-1914" by Christopher Wood.
Source: http://www.aspireauctions.com