THE PROGRESS OF ENGLISH ART IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
It will here be convenient to notice briefly some foreign painters who
worked in England in the middle of the eighteenth century.
GIOVANNI BATTISTA CIPRIANI, R.A. (1727--1785), a Florentine, came to
London in 1755 and remained here, gaining a great reputation as an
historic painter at a time when foreign artists were specially popular.
He was one of the original members of the Royal Academy, and designed
the diploma of that body. To Cipriani the English school owes some
refinement tempering the rough originality of Hogarth, but his art, "the
worn-out and effete art of modern Italy," left few permanent traces on
that of England.
ANGELICA KAUFFMAN, R.A. (1740--1807), a native of Schwartzenberg, in
Austria, came to London in 1765, and, aided by fashion and the patronage
of Queen Charlotte, became prominent in the art world. Her romantic and
sad fortunes added to her popularity. "Her works were gay and pleasing
in colour, yet weak and faulty in drawing, her male figures particularly
wanting in bone and individuality." (_Redgrave_.) Her pictures were
often engraved in her own days, but they are now thought little of. A
specimen of Angelica Kauffman's work may be seen in the ceiling of the
Council Chamber of the Royal Academy, of which she was a member; another
is in the National Gallery.
JOHANN ZOFFANY, R.A. (1733--1810), was born at Frankfort, and on his
first arrival in England met with little success. He was, however, one
of the original Royal Academicians, and was patronised by George III.,
whose portrait he painted, together with those of many members of the
Royal family. As a portrait painter Zoffany was truthful, natural, and
unaffected, and his influence for good was not lost on the art of his
adopted country. In 1783 he went to India, where he remained fifteen
years, painting pictures of incident, of which _The Indian Tiger Hunt_
is an example; works produced after his return to England are less
interesting than these.
FRANCESCO ZUCCARELLI, R.A. (1702--1788), born in Tuscany, has already
been mentioned as advising Wilson to cultivate landscape-painting. After
becoming famous abroad, he came to London in 1752, and secured a
fortune, whilst Wilson, his superior, was too poor to buy a canvas to
paint on. Zuccarelli's landscapes and rural villages are of the stage
rather than nature. He was the last of that artificial school of
painters who tried to paint a beautiful world without looking out of
doors.
PHILIPPE JAMES DE LOUTHERBOURG, R.A. (1740--1812), a native of
Strasburg, studied in Paris, under Casanova, the battle-painter. He
acquired fame by delineating landscapes, battles, and marine subjects,
and was already a member of the French Academy when he came to England
in 1771. For a time De Loutherbourg was employed as a scene-painter at
Drury Lane, receiving a salary of L500 a year from Garrick. His scenery
was extremely meritorious, effective, and popular, but he too frequently
obtruded scenic characteristics into his other pictures. He was elected
an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1780, and a full member in the
following year. Becoming somewhat deranged in his latter days, he
assumed the gift of prophecy, and pretended to cure diseases. He was
buried at Chiswick, near Hogarth. De Loutherbourg was a clever
draughtsman, but neglected nature. Peter Pindar laughed at his "brass
skies, and golden hills," and his "marble bullocks in glass pastures
grazing." Nevertheless Turner owned great obligations to him, and he
succeeded in varying the aims of landscape painters, and gave what may
be called animation and dramatic expression to their art. His best-known
works are, _Lord Howe's Victory on the 1st of June_, _The Fire of
London_, _The Siege of Valenciennes_, _A Lake Scene in Cumberland_
(National Gallery), _Warley Common_ (Windsor Castle). The _Eidophusicon_
was a moving diorama in Spring Gardens, painted by De Loutherbourg,
which "all the world went to see."
HENRY FUSELI, or more correctly, _Fuessli_ (1741--1825), born at Zuerich,
exercised very considerable influence on English art by his pictures and
lectures. He was a scholar as well as a painter, and had been educated
for the church. On first coming to England Fuseli turned his attention
to literature, but was advised by Sir Joshua Reynolds, who had seen his
sketches, to cultivate art. When nearly thirty years old he went to
Italy, where, like Reynolds, his chief devotions were paid to the shrine
of Michelangelo. Returning to England after eight years' absence, Fuseli
made his first decided mark by _The Nightmare_, painted three years
after his return. It is said that fully to realise the horrors of this
subject the enthusiastic Swiss supped on raw pork! In 1786, Alderman
Boydell, a successful engraver and art publisher, proposed a Shakespeare
Gallery, with the view of proving that England contained really good
painters of history. Fuseli executed nine out of the eighty-six examples
in this gallery. His studies of the works of Michelangelo fitted him for
the just treatment of the subjects, including _Hamlet and the Ghost_,
and _Lear and Cordelia_. It has been objected that his men are all of
one race, whether in reality classic, mediaeval, or Scandinavian, and
that Shakespeare's women are, in his pictures, all alike, too masculine
and coarse. Shakespeare is thoroughly English in taste and character,
and his men and women, even if represented in Verona, or Prospero's
Isle, are still English in heart. Fuseli was scarcely able to enter into
this characteristic of our greatest poet. He was more at home with the
majestic creations of Milton, to which he next turned his thoughts. He
projected a Milton Gallery of forty-seven large pictures, which,
however, was not a financial success, therefore in 1780 Fuseli
complained that the public would feed him with honour, but leave him to
starve. He became a Royal Academician, and Professor of Painting, a post
which he held till his death.
[Illustration: TITANIA AND BOTTOM. _By_ _Fuseli_. _In the possession of
Mr. Carrick Moore._]
* * * * *
In proceeding to speak of artists of the English school, we must
remember that we have not to deal with men gathered round a great
master, as is the case with many foreign painters. Each English artist
has originality, and stands by himself. It will be most convenient
therefore to treat them according to the special branch of art which
they severally followed, _i.e._ Historic, Portrait, Landscape, or Animal
painting. HISTORICAL PAINTING had hitherto found little favour in
England, nor were the pictures produced in that line worthy of much
regard. Reynolds attempted it in _Ugolino_ and the _Infant Hercules_,
but it is not by means of such pictures he will be remembered. There
were others who devoted themselves to what they styled high art, with
earnestness worthy of greater success than they achieved.
[Illustration: DEATH OF WOLFE. _By_ WEST. _In the possession of the Duke
of Westminster._]
BENJAMIN WEST (1738--1820) was born at Springfield, Pennsylvania, and of
Quaker parents who descended from a Buckinghamshire family of the same
persuasion. He early showed signs of artistic genius, and strange
stories have been told of the precocity of the child. West received his
first colours from Indians, and made his first paint-brush from a cat's
tail. A box of colours, given by a merchant when he was nine years
old, encouraged him to persevere; and we know that the donor of the box
introduced him to a painter named Williams, of Philadelphia, from whom
he derived instruction. West started in life at eighteen as a portrait
painter; first at Philadelphia, then at New York. In 1760, he visited
Italy, and, after remaining there three years, proceeded to England. He
had intended to return to America, but became so successful that he
settled in London. In Rome the young American created a sensation, and
the blind Cardinal Albani, whose acquaintance with Americans must have
been limited, asked if he was black or white. In London West was greatly
sought after, and in 1766, three years after his arrival, he finished
_Orestes and Pylades_ (National Gallery); his house was besieged by the
fashionable world, eager for a glimpse of the picture. West now found
many patrons, among them the Bishops of Bristol and Worcester, and
Drummond, Archbishop of York. The Archbishop was so charmed by _Agrippa
with the Ashes of Germanicus_, that he introduced West to George III.,
who became a warm and faithful supporter of the artist. From 1767 to
1802 West was almost exclusively employed by the King, and received
large sums of money. He was one of the original members of the Royal
Academy, and on the death of Reynolds, became President. His inaugural
address, which, like all he did, was highly praised, had two
subjects--the excellence of British art and the gracious benevolence of
his Majesty. The illness of George III. put an end to West's attendance
at Court, and he proceeded into a wider field of art, choosing that of
religion. Here he was more successful than in many of his former
pictures, as in _Christ healing the Sick_ (National Gallery), _Christ
rejected_, and _Death on the Pale Horse_. He died on the 11th of March,
1820, aged eighty-two. West, so popular in the days of George III., is
utterly neglected now. If he aimed at being great, he succeeded only in
the size of his pictures. A cold, passionless mediocrity was the
highest point to which he attained, and of his pictures we may say as
the old Scotsman said of Rob Roy, that they are "too bad for blessing,
and too good for banning." Redgrave says: "His compositions were more
studied than natural, the action often conventional and dramatic; the
draperies, although learned, heavy and without truth. His colour often
wants freshness and variety of tint, and is hot and foxy." We owe to
West, however, the example of courage in attempting great religious
subjects, and in departing from the absurd custom of representing the
warriors of all nations clad like ancient Romans. In his _Death of
Wolfe_, West insisted, contrary to the advice of Reynolds, in painting
his soldiers in their proper dress.
JOHN SINGLETON COPLEY, R.A. (1737--1815), was born at Boston, America,
then one of our colonies, his father being English and his mother Irish.
Boston in those days could offer no facilities for art-education, but
Copley went to Nature--the best of teachers. He commenced with portraits
and domestic life, and between 1760 and 1767 sent pictures to London,
where they excited considerable interest. In 1774, he visited the Old
World, first England, then Italy, and finally settled in London in 1775.
In the following year he exhibited a "conversation" piece at the Royal
Academy, and was elected an Associate in 1777. In 1778, William Pitt,
Earl of Chatham, whilst speaking in the House of Lords against the
practice of taxing our colonists without their consent, was seized with
a fatal illness. This incident, specially interesting to an American,
suggested _The Death of the Earl of Chatham_ (National Gallery), which
at once raised the painter to a high place in the ranks of British
artists. The popularity of Copley was greatly owing to his choice of
subjects. Instead of dealing with ancient history or classic fables,
with which the general public was but imperfectly acquainted, he
selected events of the day, or of modern times, and contrived to combine
portraiture, ever popular in England, with the dramatic incidents of
his pictures. Copley was made a full member of the Royal Academy in
1779, and maintained his popularity by _The Death of Major Peirson_
(National Gallery)--which represents an attack of the French on St.
Helier's, Jersey, in 1781, and the fall of young Major Peirson in the
moment of his victory. Following the path thus wisely selected, Copley
produced _Charles I. ordering the Arrest of the Five Members_, _The
Repulse of the Spanish Floating Batteries at Gibraltar by Lord
Heathfield_ (painted for the City of London, now in the Guildhall), _The
Assassination of Buckingham_, _The Battle of the Boyne_, &c. He
exhibited only forty-two works in the Royal Academy, all of which were
portraits except _The Offer of the Crown to Lady Jane Grey_, and _The
Resurrection_. In sacred subjects, Copley was far less successful than
in the particular style of art to which he mainly adhered. His son
became famous as Lord Chancellor Lyndhurst.
[Illustration: DEATH OF MAJOR PEIRSON. _By_ COPLEY. A.D. 1783. _In the
National Gallery._]
[Illustration: MERCURY INVENTING THE LYRE. _By_ BARRY.]
JAMES BARRY, R.A. (1741--1806), who was a contemporary of Benjamin West,
and, like him, aimed at high art, formed a marked contrast to the
favourite painter of George III. Whilst West was well fed and well
clothed, rich, easy-tempered, and happy, Barry was often ragged,
sometimes starving, always poor, and seldom out of a passion. He was
born at Cork, the son of a small coasting trader who kept a tavern. From
such uncongenial surroundings Barry made his way to Dublin, and
exhibited _The Baptism of the King of Cashel by St. Patrick_. This work
attracted considerable notice, and secured for the artist the patronage
of Burke, who sent him to Italy. This was in 1765, but previously to
this date Barry had already visited London, and lived by copying in oil
the drawings of "Athenian Stuart," the Serjeant-Painter who succeeded
Hogarth. Barry's studies in Italy confirmed his ambitious design to
become a painter of high art subjects. With characteristic boldness he
entered the field against the greatest masters, and whilst at Rome
painted _Adam and Eve_, which he thought superior to Raphael's
masterpiece of the same subject. Returning to England in 1770, Barry
exhibited this picture, and began _Venus rising from the Sea_, which was
exhibited in 1772; he was elected a R.A. in the following year. His
undisciplined temper ensured him many enemies, and estranged his few
friends; he even quarrelled with Burke. His pride and courage were
indomitable, and he worked on through good and ill reports, never
swerving from the course he had marked out, and contemptuously
dismissing any chance sitter for a portrait to "the fellow in Leicester
Square," as he styled Sir Joshua Reynolds. In 1777, Barry undertook to
paint in the Great Room of the Society of Arts at the Adelphi a series
of pictures illustrating _Human Culture_. He had previously offered to
decorate the interior of St. Paul's. He began to work at the Adelphi
with sixteen shillings in his pocket, and toiled there during seven
years, being often in absolute want. The Society provided him with
models and materials only, and Barry was to receive the proceeds of
exhibiting his work in return for his unpaid labours. The hope of fame
enabled "the little ordinary man with the dirty shirt" to support
himself through the long years of want and semi-starvation, whilst he
was working for the glory which never came. Barry finished the pictures
at the Adelphi in 1783, and called them severally _The Story of Orpheus:
A Thanksgiving to Ceres and Bacchus_; _The Victors of Olympia_;
_Navigation, or the Triumph of the Thames_; _Distribution of Premiums in
the Society of Arts_; and _Elysium, or the State of Final Retribution_.
The luckless artist had been appointed Professor of Painting at the
Royal Academy in 1772, but outbursts of passion and furious attacks on
his brethren led to his removal from the post, and, in 1779, to his
expulsion from the Academy. He died miserably, in 1806, at the wretched
house he called a home, and the honours which had never blossomed for
the living man were bestowed on the corpse, which lay in state at the
Adelphi, surrounded by the work of his hands. He was buried in St.
Paul's. "There he rests side by side with the great ones of his
profession. Posterity had reversed the positions of West and his
competitor, the first is last, and the last first; but it was hardly to
be expected that the young would be anxious to follow Barry in a line of
art in which neither ability nor perseverance seemed to succeed, or to
start in a career for which not even princely patronage could obtain
public sympathy, nor innate genius, with life-long devotion, win
present fame, hardly indeed a bare subsistence." (_Redgrave._)
Returning for a moment to _Portrait Painters_, we find two of that class
who were contemporary with Sir Joshua Reynolds, and of whom the first
nearly equalled the president in popularity.
[Illustration: MARQUIS OF STAFFORD. _By_ ROMNEY.
_In the possession of the Duke of Sutherland._]
GEORGE ROMNEY (1734--1802) was born near Dalton-in-Furness, North
Lancashire, and for some years followed his father's craft of
cabinet-making. The story of his life is one of marked success and
singular selfishness. He first studied art with Edward Steele, of
Kendal, a portrait painter of some skill and reputation, who had painted
Sterne. Whilst assisting his master to elope with his future wife,
Romney fell ill, and was nursed by young Mary Abbot. He rewarded the
devotion of his nurse by marrying her, and when she was the mother of
two children, by leaving her at home poor and alone, whilst he was rich
and famous in London. During a long and successful career Romney only
visited his family twice, to find on the second occasion his daughter
dead, and his son grown up and in Holy Orders. The painter's strange,
selfish life ended in imbecility, and the patient wife who had nursed
the youth of twenty-three, soothed the last hours of the man of seventy,
whose fame she had never shared. Romney was as eccentric in life as in
his genius. Shunning the society of his fellow artists, he complained of
their neglect, and refused to enter the Royal Academy. It was said of
Sterne that "he would shed tears over a dead donkey whilst he left a
living mother to starve." In like manner Romney wrote gushing words of
sympathy for the widow of another man, whilst his own wife had been
practically widowed for more than thirty years. Of the intercourse of
Romney with the fair and frail Emma Lyon, who, as Lady Hamilton,
exercised an influence for evil over him and over Nelson, it is not our
province to speak. The fitful temper of the painter led him to begin
numerous pictures he never finished, cart-loads of which were removed
from his house at Hampstead. Romney's want of steadfastness often
compelled him to abandon works of which the conception was greater than
the power to carry it out. There was a want of _thoroughness_ about him,
and even the pictures which he finished seemed incomplete to those who
did not understand them. Noteworthy among these are _Ophelia_, _The
Infant Shakespeare_, and _The Shipwreck_, from "The Tempest." His
portraits, however, form the greater class of his productions. In the
National Gallery are _Study of Lady Hamilton as a Bacchante_, and _The
Parson's Daughter_. "We may sum up all that is to be said of Romney in
this: that whatever he did Reynolds had done much better; that his art
did not advance the taste of the age, or the reputation of the school,
and that it is quite clear, however fashion or faction may have upheld
him in his own day, the succeeding race of painters owed little or
nothing to his teaching." (_Redgrave._) A harsh and unsympathizing
judgment. Truer is it that he never offended the finest taste in art,
that he was a very fair draughtsman, a sound and accomplished painter,
who delineated ladies with the taste of a Greek, and children with
exemplary sweetness.
JOSEPH WRIGHT (1734--1797) is, from his birth-place, commonly known as
WRIGHT OF DERBY. Quitting his native town, where his father was an
attorney, he reached London in 1751 and became a pupil of Hudson, the
portrait painter. Wright aimed at historical painting, but his works are
chiefly single portraits, and conversation pieces. After revisiting
Derby, he returned to Hudson's studio for a while, and then settled in
his native town, where he practised his art with success. He often
represented candle-light and fire-light effects, as may be seen in _The
Orrery_, _The Iron Forge_, and _The Experiment with the Air-Pump_
(National Gallery). Marrying in 1773, Wright went with his wife to Italy
and remained there two years. He witnessed an eruption of Mount
Vesuvius, and painted that event with success, as well as the display of
fire-works at the Castle of St. Angelo, at Rome, which is known as the
_Girandola_. Returning to England, Wright painted at first at Bath; but
being unsuccessful, he returned to Derby, where he died in 1797. He
contributed a few works to the Royal Academy after quitting Italy;
_Vesuvius_, and the _Girandola_ were exhibited there in 1778. Wright was
elected an Associate in 1782, but removed his name from the Academy
books two years later. This step was taken either because Edmund Garvey,
a landscape painter, was elected a R.A. before him, or because Wright
had refused to comply with one of the Academy rules, and present works
to the society before receiving his diploma. He was said to be a shy,
irritable man, always ill, or fancying himself so, and ready to take
offence easily. Such are the unconfirmed statements of the advocates of
the Academy. He painted landscapes in his latter days, _The Head of
Ulleswater_ was his last picture. Best known among his works are _The
dead Soldier_, _Belshazzar's Feast_, _Hero and Leander_, _The Storm_
(from "Winter's Tale"), and _Cicero's Villa_. Wright's most remarkable
fire-light effects are _The Hermit_, _The Gladiator_, _The Indian
Widow_, _The Orrery_, and, already mentioned, the _Air-Pump_. Like
Hogarth and Copley, he painted in that solid old English method which
insured the preservation of his works. "On the whole it cannot be said
that Wright's pictures have added much to the reputation of the British
school. As a portrait painter he is hardly in the second rank." His
portraits have a heavy look; of his landscapes it has been averred that
"they are large and simple in manner, but heavy and empty."
THE SUCCESSORS OF SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS.
Portrait-painting, always popular in England, continued to flourish
after the deaths of Reynolds and Gainsborough. Although the magic
touches of these masters cannot be found in the art of their immediate
followers, their influence produced several original and independent
artists, who, though successors, were not imitators.
NATHANIEL DANCE (1734--1811) studied art under Frank Hayman, R.A., and
visited Italy with Angelica Kauffman. Returning to England he achieved
success as a painter, both of portraits and historic pieces. He was one
of the original members of the Royal Academy, from which he retired in
1790, on marrying a wealthy widow: he took the name of Holland and was
made a baronet ten years later. His best-known works are the _Death of
Virginia_, _Garrick as Richard III._, _Timon of Athens_ (Royal
Collection) and _Captain Cook_ (Greenwich Hospital).
JAMES NORTHCOTE (1746--1831), the son of a watchmaker of Plymouth, spent
seven years as an apprentice to his father's craft, all the while
longing to be a painter. He was a man of indefatigable industry, who, in
spite of a defective education and few opportunities for improvement,
made his mark both as an artist and a writer on art. He was the
favourite pupil of Sir Joshua Reynolds and his first biographer. Leaving
Reynolds in 1775, Northcote returned to Devonshire, and for two years
successfully painted portraits. From 1777 to 1780 he was in Italy
studying the old masters, especially Titian. He settled in London on
returning home, and maintained himself by portrait-painting. He was,
however, ambitious to succeed with historic pictures, though compelled
to confine himself to more saleable subjects, such as _A Visit to
Grandmamma_, and similar domestic scenes. Boydell's Shakespeare Gallery
gave Northcote a new opening in the line he yearned to practise. Among
nine pictures produced for this series, that of the _Murder of the Young
Princes in the Tower_, painted in 1786, brought the artist prominently
into notice. The _Death of Wat Tyler_, now in Guildhall, London, is one
of his best works. His _Diligent and Dissipated Servants_, a series
suggested by Hogarth's _Idle and Industrious Apprentices_, falls very
far below the standard of the original series. Noteworthy facts in
Northcote's historic pictures are the incongruity of the dresses, and
frequent gross anachronisms. Thus we have Sisera lying on a feather bed
and attired like a trooper of Cromwell's Ironsides, and Jael dressed
like a modern maid-of-all-work. In the Shakespearian pictures Hubert of
the thirteenth century, and Richard III. of the fifteenth century, alike
wear the dress of Elizabeth's day. Wat Tyler and the murderers in the
Tower wear the same armour, which belongs to the Stuart period. Such
mistakes, however, were common among all painters of his time.
[Illustration: CHARITY. _By_ NORTHCOTE. A.D. 1783.]
JOHN OPIE (1761--1807), the rival and friend of Northcote, was like him
a West countryman, and like him rose from the ranks. Born at St. Agnes,
near Truro, the son of a carpenter, Opie early showed intelligence and
quickness in acquiring knowledge which marked him out for a higher
sphere than a carpenter's shop. After evincing taste for art, and
disgusting his father by decorating a saw-pit with chalk, he found
patrons in Lord Bateman and Dr. Wolcot, the famous _Peter Pindar_. Some
biographers have described Opie as becoming the doctor's footboy, but
this is a mistake. Walcot brought the young painter to London and
introduced him to Sir Joshua Reynolds, but the selfish patronage of the
doctor soon came to an end. Opie was at first vigorously advertised in
London as "the Cornish Wonder"--
"the Cornish boy, in tin-mines bred,
Whose native genius, like his diamonds, shone
In secret, till chance gave him to the sun."
Reynolds told Northcote that Opie was "like Caravaggio and Velasquez in
one." In 1782 the painter married his first wife, from whom he was
subsequently divorced owing to her misconduct. Although Opie was no
longer the wonder of the hour in fickle London, he was achieving more
enduring fame. His defective education, both in literature and art, left
much to be learned, and he set himself to supply his defects with a
laborious zeal which finally affected his brain and prematurely ended
his life. His earliest works in London were studies of heads and
portraits. In 1786, he produced the _Assassination of James I. of
Scotland_, a _Sleeping Nymph_, and _Cupid stealing a Kiss_. Next year
saw his _Murder of David Rizzio_. He was elected an Associate of the
Royal Academy in 1787, and a full member within a year. In the next
seven years he exhibited twenty pictures, all portraits. Opie was
engaged to paint for Boydell's Shakespeare Gallery, and contributed five
pictures, which improved as they progressed. Portrait-painting continued
to be, however, the most lucrative pursuit, and having been introduced
to some patrons at Norwich, Opie saw and married Amelia Alderson, who
afterwards wrote Memoirs of her husband, and described the hard
struggles which he had at times to encounter. His love for art and
untiring industry remained to the last. Even when dying, and at times
delirious, he gave advice about the finishing of pictures which he
wished to send to the Academy. It was said of him, that "whilst other
artists painted to live, he lived to paint." He was buried in St.
Paul's. Opie wrote several works on art, and was Professor of Painting
in the Royal Academy. His answer to a troublesome inquirer truly
expresses the character of his work. "What do I mix my colours with?
Why, with brains." Two of Opie's pictures are in the National Gallery--a
_Portrait of William Siddons_, and _Troilus, Cressida, and Pandarus_. Of
his art generally it may be said that he possessed considerable power
and breadth of treatment. His handling was often coarse, and his
colouring crude, especially in female portraits; in fact, coarseness was
the leading characteristic of works which were never tame or spiritless.
SIR WILLIAM BEECHEY (1753--1839) was a portrait painter who received a
considerable share of Court favour. He is variously stated to have begun
life as a house-painter, or as a solicitor's clerk. He devoted himself
to the study of art at the Royal Academy. He lived for a time at
Norwich, produced conversation pieces in the style of Hogarth, but
finally settled in London as a portrait painter, and practised with
considerable success. In 1793 Beechey was elected A.R.A., and executed a
portrait of _Queen Charlotte_, who was so well pleased with it that she
appointed him her Majesty's portrait painter. Thus introduced to Court,
Beechey trod "the primrose path" of success, and in 1798 painted an
equestrian portrait of George III., with likenesses of the Prince of
Wales and Duke of York at a review in Hyde Park. The painter was
knighted, and elected a Royal Academician. The picture of _George III.
Reviewing the 3rd and 10th Dragoons_ is at Hampton Court. His _Portrait
of Nollekens_, the sculptor, is in the National Gallery. Beechey's chief
merit is accuracy of likeness.
JOHN HOPPNER (1759--1810) was another portrait painter who prospered at
Court. At first a chorister in the Chapel Royal, he studied art at the
Academy schools, became an Associate in 1793, and was elected full
member in 1795. He enjoyed vast popularity as a portrait painter,
finding a rival only in Lawrence. Many of Hoppner's best works are at
St. James's Palace. Three of them are in the National Gallery--_William
Pitt_, _"Gentleman" Smith_, the actor, and the _Countess of Oxford_.
Three of his works are at Hampton Court; among them is _Mrs. Jordan as
the Comic Muse_.
Examples of the work of nearly all the above-mentioned portrait painters
may be consulted in the National Portrait Gallery at South Kensington.
ANIMAL PAINTERS.
The first animal painters in England were willing to win money, if not
fame, by taking the portraits of favourite race-horses and prize oxen
for the country squires, who loved to decorate their walls with pictures
of their ancestors, and their studs. The first to make a name in this
branch of art was JOHN WOOTTON, a pupil of John Wyck. He became famous
in the sporting circles of Newmarket for his likenesses of race-horses,
and received large sums for pictures of dogs and horses. Later, he
attempted landscapes, chiefly hunting scenes. His works are in country
mansions, especially at Blenheim, Longleat, and Dytchley. Wootton died
in 1765.
JAMES SEYMOUR (1702--1752) was famous also as a painter of race-horses
and hunting-pieces; he is best known by the engravings after his works.
GEORGE STUBBS (1724--1806) was the son of a Liverpool surgeon, from whom
he probably inherited his love for anatomy. He worked at painting and
conducted anatomic studies with equal zeal throughout his life, and is
said to have carried, on one occasion, a dead horse on his back to his
dissecting-room. This story is more than doubtful, though Stubbs was a
man of great physical strength. He was the first to give the poetry of
life and motion to pictures of animals, and to go beyond the mere
portrait of a Newmarket favourite or an over-fed ox. The Royal Academy
elected him an Associate in 1780, but as he declined to present one of
his works, he was never made a full member. Among his works are a _Lion
killing a Horse_, a _Tiger lying in his Den_, a noble life-size portrait
of the famous racing-horse _Whistle-jacket_, which is at Wentworth
Woodhouse, and _The Fall of Phaeton_. The last picture he repeated four
times. He published _The Anatomy of the Horse_, with etchings from his
own dissections.
SAWREY GILPIN (1733--1807) attained considerable success as an animal
painter. He was born at Carlisle, and was sent to London as a clerk.
Like many others he preferred the studio to the office, and having
obtained the favour of the Duke of Cumberland at Newmarket, Gilpin was
provided with a set of rooms, and soon became known as a painter of
horses. In 1770 he exhibited at Spring Gardens _Darius obtaining the
Persian Empire by the Neighing of his Horse_, and next year _Gulliver
taking Leave of the Houyhnhnms_. Gilpin was elected a R.A. in 1797.
[Illustration: THE WATERING PLACE. _By_ MORLAND.]
GEORGE MORLAND (1763--1804), though not exclusively an animal painter,
is best known in that branch of art. His life's story describes wasted
opportunities, reckless extravagance, and misused talents. Brought up
with unwise strictness by his father, HENRY ROBERT MORLAND (died 1797),
a portrait painter of note, George Morland no sooner escaped from home
discipline than he began that course of riotous living which ended in a
dishonoured grave, for which he prepared the epitaph:--"Here lies a
drunken dog." It is a mistake to suppose that Morland was a self-taught
genius, since, although his father objected to his entering the Academy
schools, he himself was his teacher, and so assiduously kept the boy at
his studies that he learned to hate the name of work.
As early as 1779 young Morland was an honorary exhibitor of sketches at
the Academy. At nineteen he had thrown off home ties, and was living a
reckless life of debauchery. Like most prodigals who think themselves
free, Morland became a slave. His task-master was a picture dealer, who
made money by the genius of the youth whose ruin he promoted. Leaving
him, the artist went to Margate, and painted miniatures for a time,
going thence to France. He would settle to no regular work, although his
necessities compelled him at times to labour lest he should starve. The
next scene in Morland's life is his sojourn with his friend William
Ward, the mezzotint-engraver, where an honourable attachment to Nancy
Ward for a time induced him to work. The pictures he painted at this
time were suggested by Hogarth's works, and had subjects with which
Morland was only too well acquainted. _The Idle and Industrious
Mechanic_, _The Idle Laundress and Industrious Cottager_, _Letitia_, or
_Seduction_ (a series), were studied from the life. In 1786 Morland
married Miss Ward, but there was no improvement in his manner of life.
Sometimes he was surrounded by eager purchasers, and using his
popularity as a means for greater extravagance. At one time we see him
keeping ten or twelve horses, and cheated right and left by profligates
who combined horse-racing, betting, and picture dealing. The luckless
Morland was the ready victim of these associates. His pictures were
copied as he painted them, during his temporary absence from the studio.
In 1790 Morland was at his best, _The Gipsies_ being painted two years
later. His last days were dark indeed. Loaded with debt, and dreading
arrest, he laboured like a slave, seldom leaving his studio, where his
pot-companions alternately rioted and acted as his models, and dogs,
pigs, and birds shared the disorderly room. In 1799, he was arrested,
and lived within the Rules of the Fleet, amid all the debaucheries of
that evil place and time. Freed by the Insolvent Act in 1802, the
painter, broken in health and ruined in character, was once again
arrested for a tavern score, and ended his life in a sponging-house on
October 29th, 1804. His wife died of grief three days later, and was
interred with her husband in the burial-ground of St. James's Chapel,
Hampstead Road.
Morland chiefly painted country scenes, the memories of happier days,
and introduced animals, such as pigs and asses, to his works. Produced
for existence, and in a fitful, uncertain manner, his pictures were
hastily conceived, and painted with little thought or study. He did much
to bring the simple beauty of English scenes before the eyes of the
public, and to teach Englishmen that they need not go to Italy in search
of subjects for their art. Morland loved low company, even in his
pictures, and was at home in a ruined stable, with a ragged jackass, and
"dirty Brookes," the cobbler. In the National Gallery are: _The Inside
of a Stable_, said to be the White Lion at Paddington, and _A Quarry
with Peasants_, by him. In the South Kensington Museum is an excellent
example of his art, called _The Reckoning_; and in the National Portrait
Gallery is his own portrait, painted by himself at an early age.
[Illustration]