Guy_Head_(1760-1800)_-_Iris_-_NG_2756_-_National_Galleries_of_Scotland

Guy Head (died 1800) was an English painter.

Life

Guy Head was the son of a house-painter at

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...

. He learnt drawing under Captain John Bernard Gilpin, and eventually entered as a student 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 ...

. His work was noticed by

Sir Joshua Reynolds Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter, specialising in portraits. John Russell said he was one of the major European painters of the 18th century. He promoted the "Grand Style" in painting which depend ...

. In 1779 he exhibited a portrait of a gentleman at the Royal Academy, and another in 1780. In the latter year he also sent to the exhibition of the Society of Artists at

Spring Gardens Spring Gardens is a dead-end street at the south east extreme of St. James's, London, England, that crosses the east end of The Mall between Admiralty Arch and Trafalgar Square. Part of the old liberty of Westminster and the current City of ...

a painting of ''The Fire at London Bridge Waterworks'' and two portraits. In 1781 he sent to the Royal Academy a landscape with the story of ''Europa'', and a portrait of

Henderson Henderson may refer to: People *Henderson (surname), description of the surname, and a list of people with the surname *Clan Henderson, a Scottish clan Places Argentina *Henderson, Buenos Aires Australia *Henderson, Western Australia Canada *He ...

the actor as ''Richard III''.Cust 1891, p. 326. With the help of a friend and introductions from Reynolds, Head went to Italy, and resided for some years at Rome. He was a skilful copyist, and his copies of the works of

Correggio Antonio Allegri da Correggio (August 1489 – 5 March 1534), usually known as just Correggio (, also , , ), was the foremost painter of the Parma school of the High Italian Renaissance, who was responsible for some of the most vigorous and sens ...

Titian Tiziano Vecelli or Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italians, Italian (Republic of Venice, Venetian) painter of the Renaissance, considered the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school (art), ...

, and others were much commended. Some large copies of

Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque traditio ...

's pictures at

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

are in the Royal Academy. He also painted, besides portraits, classical subjects of a decorative nature. At the Revolutionary outbreak in 1798 he returned to England, with a large collection of drawings, copies, and other pieces, which he intended to exhibit, but died suddenly in London on 16 December 1800. His works were sold by auction in 1805, but his reputation did not survive his death. Two pictures of ''Echo'' and ''Iris'' were engraved after him by J. Folo in 1814, and a horse's head by C. Turner.

References

Bibliography

* Belsey, Hugh (2003). "Head, Guy". In ''

Grove Art Online ''Grove Art Online'' is the online edition of ''The Dictionary of Art'', often referred to as the ''Grove Dictionary of Art'', and part of Oxford Art Online, an internet gateway to online art reference publications of Oxford University Press, ...

''. Oxford University Press. * * Ingamells, John (2004)
"Head, Guy (bap. 1760, d. 1800), painter"
In ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''. Oxford University Press. * Oliver, Valerie Cassel, ed. (2011)
"Head, Guy"
In ''

Benezit Dictionary of Artists The ''Benezit Dictionary of Artists'' (in French, ''Bénézit: Dictionnaire des peintres, sculpteurs, dessinateurs et graveurs'') is an extensive publication of bibliographical information on painters, sculptors, designers and engravers created ...

''. Oxford University Press. * Pressly, N. L. (1982). "Guy Head and his 'Echo Flying from Narcissus': A British Artist in Rome in the 1790s". ''Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts'', 60: pp. 68–79. {{DEFAULTSORT:Head, Guy 1800 deaths 18th-century English painters