Andrew Wilson (1780–1848) was a Scottish landscape-painter.
Life
Born in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...
, he came of an old
Jacobite family. His father was Archibald Wilson, and his mother Elizabeth Shields. When quite young he began to study art under
Alexander Nasmyth
Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history.
Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...
, and then, at the age of seventeen, went to London, where he worked for some time in the schools of the
Royal Academy. He went to Italy in 1800, returning for two more tours, and studied the masters, and became acquainted with the collectors Champernown and Irving. He also made many sketches, principally of the architecture in the neighbourhood of Rome and Naples.
Returning to London in 1803, he saw the advantage of importing pictures by the old masters, and went back to Italy. Europe was at war again, but he reached
Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...
, where he settled under the protection of the American consul and was elected a member of the Ligurian Academy. As a member of that society he was present when
Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...
visited its exhibition, and on some envious academician informing the latter, who had paused to admire Wilson's picture, that it was by an Englishman, he was met by the retort: ‘Le talent n'a pas de pays.’ In 1805 he returned through Germany to London with the pictures (over fifty in number) which he had acquired. Among them were
Rubens's ''Brazen Serpent'' (now in the
National Gallery of London) and
Jacopo Bassano
Jacopo Bassano (c. 1510 – 14 February 1592), known also as Jacopo dal Ponte, was an Italian painter who was born and died in Bassano del Grappa near Venice, and took the village as his surname. Trained in the workshop of his father, Francesco t ...
's ''Adoration of the Magi'' (in the
National Gallery of Scotland
The Scottish National Gallery (formerly the National Gallery of Scotland) is the national art gallery of Scotland. It is located on The Mound in central Edinburgh, close to Princes Street. The building was designed in a neoclassical style by W ...
).
Settling in London, he painted a good deal in watercolour, was one of the original members of the Associated Artists (1808), and held for a period the position of teacher of drawing in the
Royal Military College, Sandhurst
The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infant ...
. Appointed in 1818 master of the
Trustees' Academy, he moved to Edinburgh, where his pupils included
Robert Scott Lauder
Robert Scott Lauder (25 June 1803 – 21 April 1869) was a Scottish artist who described himself as a "historical painter". He was one of the original members of the Royal Scottish Academy.
Life and work
Lauder was born at Silvermills, E ...
,
William Simson, and
David Octavius Hill. While in London he had contributed to the
Royal Academy, and in Edinburgh he supported the
Royal Institution, of which he was the manager as well as an artist associate member.
In 1826 he received £100 from
Peter Spalding via the "Spalding Fund" partly in recognition of his having relandscaped the section of Queen Street Gardens in Edinburgh opposite Spalding's home at 1
Heriot Row
Heriot Row is a highly prestigious street in central Edinburgh, virtually unchanged since its original construction in 1802. From its inception to the present day in remained a top address in the city and has housed the rich and famous of the cit ...
around a decade earlier.
This windfall equates to around £8000 in current terms.
With this money. later In 1826, he took his wife and family to Italy. He again went south, and for the twenty years following lived in Rome, Florence, and Genoa. During this period he was consulted on art matters, collected pictures for
Lord Hopetoun,
Lord Pembroke,
Sir Robert Peel
Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet, (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850) was a British Conservative statesman who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834–1835 and 1841–1846) simultaneously serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer ...
, and others, and was instrumental in securing for the Royal Institution some of the works which later helped to form the
National Gallery of Scotland
The Scottish National Gallery (formerly the National Gallery of Scotland) is the national art gallery of Scotland. It is located on The Mound in central Edinburgh, close to Princes Street. The building was designed in a neoclassical style by W ...
. He also painted much in both oil and watercolours.
In 1847, leaving his family in Italy, he revisited Scotland, but, on the eve of returning, he died in Edinburgh on 27 November 1848.
Family
In 1808 he married Rachel Ker, daughter of William Ker, descendant of the Inglis of Manner, and had a family of four sons and three daughters. The eldest son was
Charles Heath Wilson.
References
*
*Antique Dealer and Collectors Guide, Vol 50, 12, July 1997 - 'The Scottish Claude' by John Ramm
;Attribution
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Andrew
1780 births
1848 deaths
19th-century Scottish painters
Academics of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst
Scottish expatriates in Italy
Artists from Edinburgh
Scottish male painters
19th-century Scottish male artists