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Charles Altamont Doyle Most Popular Paintings

The 12 artworks by Charles Altamont Doyle our visitors ask for most, ranked by popularity and presented one by one, with the specification and the price of each hand-painted reproduction.

Edition 2026 · 12 artworks Each artwork painted to order
Linen canvas · Certificate of authenticity · Delivered worldwide Charles Altamont Doyle · 1832 – 1893

The spirits of the prisoners by Charles Altamont Doyle, 1889

View the most popular artwork of Charles Altamont Doyle ranked #1: The spirits of the prisoners

1889 · Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney · original 60 x 50 cm

A haunting procession of swirling spirits cascades over an asylum rooftop in this evocative Victorian watercolor by Charles Altamont Doyle, inviting you to explore the depths of his dark romantic fantasy.

Technique: Hand-painted oil on linen canvas
Made: To order, by a trained painter
Popularity: No. 1 of 12 artworks by Charles Altamont Doyle
Delivery: Worldwide, about 5 weeks

from$17027 × 37 cm Commission this artwork

Same size as the original$22950 × 60 cm Commission at original size

Angel on the Roof – oil painting reproduction by Charles Altamont Doyle

View the most popular artwork of Charles Altamont Doyle ranked #2: Angel on the Roof

Technique: Hand-painted oil on linen canvas
Made: To order, by a trained painter
Popularity: No. 2 of 12 artworks by Charles Altamont Doyle
Delivery: Worldwide, about 5 weeks

from$17026 × 38 cm Commission this artwork

Self portrait – oil painting reproduction by Charles Altamont Doyle

View the most popular artwork of Charles Altamont Doyle ranked #3: Self portrait

Technique: Hand-painted oil on linen canvas
Made: To order, by a trained painter
Popularity: No. 3 of 12 artworks by Charles Altamont Doyle
Delivery: Worldwide, about 5 weeks

from$17038 × 26 cm Commission this artwork

Hearts Are Trumps – oil painting reproduction by Charles Altamont Doyle

View the most popular artwork of Charles Altamont Doyle ranked #4: Hearts Are Trumps

Discover 'Hearts Are Trumps' by Charles Altamont Doyle – a whimsical Romantic watercolor depicting card players & fantastical elements. Explore this unique Victorian illustration!

Technique: Hand-painted oil on linen canvas
Made: To order, by a trained painter
Popularity: No. 4 of 12 artworks by Charles Altamont Doyle
Delivery: Worldwide, about 5 weeks

from$19537 × 27 cm Commission this artwork

God Speed the Plough by Charles Altamont Doyle

View the most popular artwork of Charles Altamont Doyle ranked #5: God Speed the Plough

Technique: Hand-painted oil on linen canvas
Made: To order, by a trained painter
Popularity: No. 5 of 12 artworks by Charles Altamont Doyle
Delivery: Worldwide, about 5 weeks

from$29541 × 24 cm Commission this artwork

The fairy queen

Discover 'The Fairy Queen' by Charles Altamont Doyle! A Romantic fantasy illustration of courtly revelry & mythical creatures. Watercolor beauty, evocative style – a unique 19th-century treasure.

Technique: Hand-painted oil on linen canvas
Made: To order, by a trained painter
Popularity: No. 6 of 12 artworks by Charles Altamont Doyle
Delivery: Worldwide, about 5 weeks

from$27048 × 21 cm Commission this artwork

A Dance Around The Moon – oil painting reproduction by Charles Altamont Doyle

View the most popular artwork of Charles Altamont Doyle ranked #7: A Dance Around The Moon

Discover "A Dance Around The Moon" by Charles Altamont Doyle – a captivating Victorian watercolor painting of fantastical figures under a moonlit sky. Explore its rich detail & unique style.

Technique: Hand-painted oil on linen canvas
Made: To order, by a trained painter
Popularity: No. 7 of 12 artworks by Charles Altamont Doyle
Delivery: Worldwide, about 5 weeks

from$17040 × 25 cm Commission this artwork

An enchanted picnic – oil painting reproduction by Charles Altamont Doyle

View the most popular artwork of Charles Altamont Doyle ranked #8: An enchanted picnic

Technique: Hand-painted oil on linen canvas
Made: To order, by a trained painter
Popularity: No. 8 of 12 artworks by Charles Altamont Doyle
Delivery: Worldwide, about 5 weeks

from$17042 × 24 cm Commission this artwork

The Winning Shot – oil painting reproduction by Charles Altamont Doyle

View the most popular artwork of Charles Altamont Doyle ranked #9: The Winning Shot

Technique: Hand-painted oil on linen canvas
Made: To order, by a trained painter
Popularity: No. 9 of 12 artworks by Charles Altamont Doyle
Delivery: Worldwide, about 5 weeks

from$47028 × 36 cm Commission this artwork

Figures Ice Skating by Charles Altamont Doyle

View the most popular artwork of Charles Altamont Doyle ranked #10: Figures Ice Skating

Technique: Hand-painted oil on linen canvas
Made: To order, by a trained painter
Popularity: No. 10 of 12 artworks by Charles Altamont Doyle
Delivery: Worldwide, about 5 weeks

from$52040 × 25 cm Commission this artwork

The Escape by Charles Altamont Doyle

View the most popular artwork of Charles Altamont Doyle ranked #11: The Escape

Discover "The Escape" by Charles Doyle – a dramatic 18th-century etching of horseback riders in a marshy landscape. Explore this romantic, monochromatic artwork's linear style & narrative depth.

Technique: Hand-painted oil on linen canvas
Made: To order, by a trained painter
Popularity: No. 11 of 12 artworks by Charles Altamont Doyle
Delivery: Worldwide, about 5 weeks

from$22036 × 28 cm Commission this artwork

Curling Match On Duddingston Loch, Charles Altamont Doyle

View the most popular artwork of Charles Altamont Doyle ranked #12: Curling Match On Duddingston Loch

Technique: Hand-painted oil on linen canvas
Made: To order, by a trained painter
Popularity: No. 12 of 12 artworks by Charles Altamont Doyle
Delivery: Worldwide, about 5 weeks

from$39542 × 24 cm Commission this artwork

The artist

Charles Altamont Doyle

1832 – 1893

Quick facts

NationalityUnited Kingdom
Top 3 worksThe spirits of the prisoners, Angel on the Roof, Self portrait
Color intensitymonochromatic, balanced
Top-ranked workThe spirits of the prisoners
Creative periodsmature period
Typical colorsrosy brown
Movementsromanticism

Biography

A Visionary Caught Between Worlds

In the shadowed corridors of Victorian history, few figures possess a legacy as hauntingly beautiful and deeply complex as Charles Altamont Doyle. While history often remembers him through the lens of his most famous progeny—the legendary creator of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle—the elder Doyle was a master of a much more ethereal realm. A British illustrator, watercolourist, and civil servant, his life was a delicate dance between the mundane responsibilities of the Victorian era and a profound, often turbulent, immersion in the realms of fantasy and folklore.

Born in London in 1832 into a lineage of immense creative potency, Doyle was the son of the celebrated political cartoonist John Doyle, known to the public as "H.B." This artistic heritage provided him with an early apprenticeship in visual storytelling, though his training remained largely informal, nurtured within the walls of his father's studio. Growing up amidst a family of seven siblings, many of whom would also pursue the arts, Doyle developed a worldview where the boundaries between reality and imagination were perpetually porous.

The Intersection of Duty and Dream

Doyle’s adult life was marked by a striking duality. In 1849, seeking the stability required to support a burgeoning family, he relocated to Edinburgh to serve as an assistant surveyor for the Scottish Office of Works. This role as a civil servant provided a structured, terrestrial anchor to his existence, yet it could not suppress the whimsical currents of his imagination. His marriage to Mary Foley in 1855 further grounded him in the domestic realities of the nineteenth century, even as his mind wandered through moonlit forests and spectral landscapes.

It was within this tension between professional duty and creative compulsion that his most significant works emerged. Doyle became a prolific illustrator, lending his delicate touch to classic narratives such as The Pilgrim’s Progress and Robinson Crusoe. His ability to breathe life into text through watercolor allowed him to weave intricate tapestries of myth and legend. His technique was characterized by a masterful use of washes and precise linework, creating an atmosphere that felt both luminous and deeply melancholic.

The Macabre Beauty of the Fantastic

As Doyle’s personal struggles with depression and alcoholism intensified, so too did the intensity of his art. The whimsical elements of his early career began to coalesce into something more profound and unsettling. His later works often explored themes of fairies, folklore, and the supernatural, but they were imbued with a sense of unease that mirrored his own inner turmoil. This stylistic evolution saw him moving toward a more macabre aesthetic, where the ethereal figures of his paintings seemed to emerge from a darkness that was as much psychological as it was atmospheric.

One of his most poignant achievements is found in works like The Spirits of the Prisoners, a piece that serves as a harrowing window into a fractured psyche. Created during a period of profound personal crisis, the painting captures a nocturnal procession of souls swirling over brooding rooftops, embodying a sense of kinetic energy and spiritual transition. In these late works, Doyle achieved a unique form of Romanticism—one that did not merely celebrate nature or emotion, but interrogated the very thin veil between the living and the spectral.

The historical significance of Charles Altamont Doyle lies in his ability to capture the Victorian fascination with the occult and the unseen through a deeply personal lens. His oeuvre remains a testament to the power of art to act as both a refuge and a reflection of human suffering. Through his watercolors, we encounter an artist who, despite being overshadowed by the detective fiction of his son, carved out a singular space in the annals of British art—a space defined by the haunting beauty of the dreamscape.

Questions & Answers

Can I visit a virtual museum of Charles Altamont Doyle's works?

The 3D Museum of Charles Altamont Doyle is a page that displays the artist's artworks in a virtual three-dimensional gallery.

Is there an overview of all the subjects Charles Altamont Doyle painted?

The Subject Atlas page maps Charles Altamont Doyle's artworks by subject.

In which historical period did Charles Altamont Doyle work?

Charles Altamont Doyle worked in the 19th-Century period. The period situates the artist's activity in history.

By the AllPaintingsStore.com Editorial Team Updated Oct. 10, 2026

Collector's quiz

Who was the father of Charles Altamont Doyle?
In which city did Doyle relocate in 1849 to serve as an assistant surveyor?
Which of these works was illustrated by Doyle?
What was Doyle's profession in addition to being an artist?
Which painting depicts a nocturnal procession of souls over rooftops?

one You choose the size

Standard formats or any custom dimension, matched to the proportions of the original.

two We paint and send a preview

A photo of the finished canvas for your approval before it is shipped.

three Delivered, certified

Rolled, stretched or framed, insured, with a certificate of authenticity.

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