Henry H Parker British, (1858-1930)The River Wey near Ripley, Surrey & At Culham on ThamesOil on canvas, pair, both signed & inscribed versoImage size: 11.5 inches x 17.5 inches (each)Size including frame: 17.5 inches x 23.5 inches (each)A lovely pair of verdant river landscape paintings featuring cattle watering by Henry H Parker. The first painting is of a stretch of the river Wey near Ripley in Surrey. The second shows a view of the river Thames at Culham in Oxfordshire. Both the Thames Valley and Surrey were areas the artist returned to often to paint. Henry Parker was born in the St Pancras area of London on 27 June, 1860 and was christened Henry Deacon Hillier (or Hillyer) Parker. His parents were Thomas, a draughtsman and lithographer and Lucy Parker. The family lived in Gillies Street, St Pancras. He studied at the St Martin�s School of Art and initially started his working life as an Illustrator for the Illustrated London News. However, by the age of 23 he had become known as a landscape painter. He married Charlotte Eliza Wilson in June, 1888 and together they had six children. His son Frederick became a draughtsman. He spent most of his adult life in Tottenham living at Elmer Road and later 13 Somerset Road. He died in London on 12 June, 1930.Parker mainly painted rustic views of the South East of England, in Surrey, Sussex and Kent as well as views of the Thames. He also painted in Worcestershire and Wales. As well as signing his paintings Henry H Parker, he also painted under the pseudonyms of H D Hillier and possibly HD Hillyer. It is believed he used a pseudonym because of contractual obligations to a London gallery. In addition to being known as Henry Hillier Parker, he is also sometimes referred to as Henry Hillingford Parker. His style, with its quick and impressionistic brush strokes has often been compared to B. W. Leader. Like many of his contemporaries, he concentrated on painting ''pure'' land...