George Farington (1752–1788) was an English artist.

Life

Farington was born at

Leigh, Lancashire Leigh is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, on low-lying land northwest of Chat Moss. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, Leigh was originally the centre of a large ecclesiastica ...

, his baptism being recorded on 10 November 1752, and was fourth son of the Rev. William Farington, vicar of there, who was later rector of

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

. He was for many years a student of the Royal Academy, and obtained the silver medal in 1779, and in 1780 he won the gold medal for the best historical picture, the subject being 'The Caldron Scene from Macbeth.' He had in his early studies been guided by his brother

Joseph Farington Joseph Farington (21 November 1747 – 30 December 1821) was an 18th-century English landscape painter and diarist. Life and work Born in Leigh, Lancashire, Farington was the second of seven sons of William Farington and Esther Gilbody. His ...

the landscape-painter, but his preference being for historical subjects he became a pupil of

Benjamin West Benjamin West, (October 10, 1738 – March 11, 1820) was a British-American artist who painted famous historical scenes such as '' The Death of Nelson'', ''The Death of General Wolfe'', the '' Treaty of Paris'', and '' Benjamin Franklin Drawin ...

John Boydell John Boydell (; 19 January 1720 (New Style) – 12 December 1804) was a British publisher noted for his reproductions of engravings. He helped alter the trade imbalance between Britain and France in engravings and initiated a British tradition i ...

gave him many commissions, and for him he made several drawings from the Houghton collection. In 1782 he went to India, practising his art. When making studies for a grand picture of the court of the

Nawab of Murshidabad The Nawab Bahadur of Murshidabad ( bn, মুর্শিদাবাদের নবাব বাহাদুর), or simply known as the Nawab of Murshidabad, was a hereditary title of Bengal akin to Western peerage. They were direct descenda ...

, he fell ill, and died there a few days later in 1788.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Farington, George 1752 births 1788 deaths 18th-century British artists 18th-century English people People from Leigh, Greater Manchester Politicians from Lancashire