Francis Danby (16 November 1793 – 9 February 1861) was an Irish painter of the Romantic era. His imaginative, dramatic

landscapes A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the p ...

were comparable to those of John Martin. Danby initially developed his imaginative style while he was the central figure in a group of artists who have come to be known as the

Bristol School The Bristol School (or Bristol School of Artists) is a term applied retrospectively to describe the informal association and works of a group of artists working in Bristol, England, in the early 19th century. It was mainly active in the 1820 ...

. His period of greatest success was in London in the 1820s.

Early life

Born in the south-east of Ireland, he was one of a set of twins; his father, James Danby, farmed a small property he owned near

Wexford Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 N ...

, but his death, in 1807, caused the family to move to

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, while Francis was still a schoolboy. He began to practice drawing at the Royal Dublin Society's schools; and under an erratic young artist named

James Arthur O'Connor James Arthur O'Connor (1792 – 7 January 1841) was an Irish painter. Career James Arthur O'Connor was born 15 Aston's Quay, Dublin – the son of an engraver and printer, William O'Connor.''Hutchinson'', p. 83. O'Connor would become a ...

he began painting landscapes. Danby also made acquaintance with George Petrie. In 1813 Danby left for London together with O'Connor and Petrie. This expedition, undertaken with very inadequate funds, quickly came to an end, and they had to get home again by walking. At

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

they made a pause, and Danby, finding he could get trifling sums for watercolours, remained there working diligently and sending to the London exhibitions pictures of importance. There his large oil paintings quickly attracted attention.

Bristol School

From around 1818/19, Danby was a member of the informal group of artists which has become known as the

, taking part in their evening sketching meetings and sketching excursions visiting local scenery. His ''View of the Avon Gorge'' (1822) depicts figures sketching in a location favoured by the group. He remained connected with members of the Bristol School for around a decade, even after leaving Bristol in 1824. The group had initially formed around

Edward Bird Edward Bird (1772 – 2 November 1819) was an English Genre works, genre painter who spent most of his working life in Bristol, where the Bristol School of artists formed around him. He enjoyed a few years of popularity in London, where h ...

, and Danby would eventually succeed Bird as its central figure. Bird's

genre painting Genre painting (or petit genre), a form of genre art, depicts aspects of everyday life by portraying ordinary people engaged in common activities. One common definition of a genre scene is that it shows figures to whom no identity can be attached ...

had a naturalistic style and fresh colours, and his influence has been seen on Danby's style. Examples are Danby's treatment of figures in ''Boys Sailing a Little Boat'' (c. 1821) and ''The Delivery of Israel out of Egypt'' (1825). Danby was also close to

Edward Villiers Rippingille Edward Villiers Rippingille (c. 1790–1859) was an English oil painting, oil painter and watercolourist who was a member of the informal group of artists which has come to be known as the Bristol School. In that group he was a particula ...

, whose style developed alongside that of Danby under the influence of Bird. The Bristol artists, particularly the amateur Francis Gold, were also important in influencing Danby towards a more imaginative and poetical style.

George Cumberland George Cumberland (27 November 1754 – 8 August 1848) was an English art collector, writer and poet. He was a lifelong friend and supporter of William Blake, and like him was an experimental printmaker. He was also an amateur watercolouris ...

, another of the amateurs, had influential London connections. In 1820 when Francis Danby exhibited ''The Upas Tree of Java'' at the

British Institution The British Institution (in full, the British Institution for Promoting the Fine Arts in the United Kingdom; founded 1805, disbanded 1867) was a private 19th-century society in London formed to exhibit the works of living and dead artists; it w ...

, Cumberland used his influence to promote its favourable reception. There is also evidence from their correspondence that Cumberland suggested subjects for Danby to paint. Cumberland was a close friend of

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...

, and it has been suggested that Blake's work may also have had some influence on Danby, for example in Danby's second exhibited painting, ''Disappointed Love'', shown at the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

in 1821. Danby's atmospheric work ''An Enchanted Island'', successfully exhibited in 1825 at the

and then back in Bristol at the

Bristol Institution Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, was in turn particularly influential on other Bristol School artists.

Letitia Elizabeth Landon Letitia Elizabeth Landon (14 August 1802 – 15 October 1838) was an English poet and novelist, better known by her initials L.E.L. The writings of Landon are transitional between Romanticism and the Victorian Age. Her first major breakthrough ...

included a poem on this work in ''Poetical Sketches of Modern Pictures'' in her collection, The Troubadour (1826).

Success

''The Upas Tree'' (1820) and ''The Delivery of Israel'' (1825) brought him his election as an Associate Member of the

. He left Bristol for London, and in 1828 exhibited his ''Opening of the Sixth Seal'' at the

, receiving from that body a prize of 200

guineas The guinea (; commonly abbreviated gn., or gns. in plural) was a coin, minted in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold. The name came from t ...

; and this picture was followed by two others on the theme of the Apocalypse. Danby painted "vast illusionist canvases" comparable to those of John Martin – of "grand, gloomy and fantastic subjects which chimed exactly with the

Byronic The Byronic hero is a variant of the Romantic hero as a type of character, named after the English Romantic poet Lord Byron. Both Byron's own persona as well as characters from his writings are considered to provide defining features to the cha ...

taste of the 1820s."

Later years

Francis Danby - The Deluge - Google Art Project

Danby was sculpted by Christopher Moore in 1828. In 1829 Danby's wife deserted him, running off with the painter

Paul Falconer Poole Paul Falconer Poole (1807–1879) was a British subject and genre painter. Though self-taught, his fine feeling for colour, poetic sympathy, and dramatic power gained Poole a high position among British artists. Early life Paul Falconer Poo ...

. Danby left London, declaring that he would never live there again, and that the Academy, instead of aiding him, had, somehow or other, used him badly. For a decade he lived on the

Lake of Geneva , image = Lake Geneva by Sentinel-2.jpg , caption = Satellite image , image_bathymetry = , caption_bathymetry = , location = Switzerland, France , coords = , lake_type = Glacial lak ...

in Switzerland, becoming a

bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...

with boat-building fancies, painting only now and then. He later moved to Paris for a short period of time. He returned to England in 1840, when his sons, James and Thomas, both artists, were growing up. Danby exhibited his large (15 feet wide) and powerful ''The Deluge'' that year; the success of that painting, "the largest and most dramatic of all his Martinesque visions," revitalised his reputation and career. Other pictures by him were ''The Golden Age'' (c. 1827, exhibited 1831), ''Rich and Rare Were the Gems She Wore'' (1837), and ''The Evening Gun'' (1848). Some of Danby's later paintings, like ''The Woodnymph's Hymn to the Rising Sun'' (1845), tended toward a calmer, more restrained, more cheerful manner than those in his earlier style; but he returned to his early mode for ''The Shipwreck'' (1859). He lived his final years at

Exmouth Exmouth is a harbor, port town, civil parishes in England, civil parish and seaside resort, sited on the east bank of the mouth of the River Exe and southeast of Exeter. In 2011 it had a population of 34,432, making Exmouth the List of town ...

in Devon, where he died in 1861. Along with John Martin and J. M. W. Turner, Danby is considered among the leading British artists of the Romantic period. Both of Danby's sons were landscape painters. The elder, James Francis Danby (1816–75), exhibited at the Royal Academy. "He excelled in depicting sunrise and sunset."Michael Bryan, ''Dictionary of Painters and Engravers'', Vol. 1, revised edition edited by Robert Edmund Graves, London, George Bell, 1886; p. 348. The younger, Thomas Danby (1817–86), specialised in watercolours of Welsh scenes. In 1866, the latter was nominated as an Associate of the Royal Academy, but missed election by one vote.

References

External links

*
Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery

Phryne's list of pictures in accessible collections in the UK
*

* Painting of engraved by W. Hill for The Literary Souvenir, 1835 with a poetical illustration (The Grecian Garden) by