James Fahey (16 April 1804 – 11 December 1885) was an English

landscape painter Landscape painting, also known as landscape art, is the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, especially where the main subject is a wide view—with its elements arranged into a coherent composi ...

Life and work

Fahey was born at

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Paddi ...

, then a village near London, and at first studied

engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a Burin (engraving), burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or Glass engraving, glass ...

under his uncle,

John Swaine John Swaine (26 June 1775 – 25 November 1860), was an English draughtsman and engraver. Life and work Swaine was born at Stanwell, Middlesex, on 26 June 1775, the son of John and Margaret Swaine, and became a pupil first of Jacob Schnebbelie ...

. Afterwards he became a pupil of

George Scharf Sir George Scharf KCB (16 December 1820 – 19 April 1895) was a British art critic, illustrator, and director of the National Portrait Gallery. Biography Early years Scharf was born at 3 St Martin's Lane, London, the son of George Joh ...

, and then went to Paris, where he studied from life, making full-size drawings of dissections, which he reproduced on stone for the use of anatomical students. His earliest exhibited work, a "Portrait of a young Gentleman", appeared 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 1825, and was followed in 1827 by drawings of the church of St. Jacques at

Dieppe Dieppe (; Norman: ''Dgieppe'') is a coastal commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. Dieppe is a seaport on the English Channel at the mouth of the river Arques. A regular ferry service runs to N ...

and the cathedral of Notre-Dame at Paris. Between this time and 1836 he contributed several portraits and landscapes in water-colours to the exhibitions of the Royal Academy, the British Institution, and the

Society of British Artists The Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) is a British art body established in 1823 as the Society of British Artists, as an alternative to the Royal Academy. History The RBA commenced with twenty-seven members, and took until 1876 to reach fif ...

. Meanwhile, the beauties of English scenery led him by degrees to devote himself exclusively to landscape painting, and in 1834 he joined the Associated Painters in Water-Colours, out of which was formed in 1835 the New Society of Painters in Water-Colours (now the Royal Institute of Painters in Water-Colours). Its first three exhibitions were held in

Exeter Hall Exeter Hall was a large public meeting place on the north side of the Strand in central London, opposite where the Savoy Hotel now stands. From 1831 until 1907 Exeter Hall was the venue for many great gatherings by promoters of human bettermen ...

, London, until in 1838 it moved to Pall Mall, when Fahey became its secretary. This office he held until 1874, and discharged its duties with much tact and devotion. His works, mostly landscape compositions, in which he introduced figures and groups, were seldom absent from its exhibitions, and his official services were long given without any remuneration. In 1853, 1855, and 1857 he again sent landscape drawings to the Royal Academy, and in 1856 he was appointed drawing-master at the Merchant Taylors' School, from which post he retired with a pension after twenty-seven years' service. He also painted occasionally in oil, and exhibited two pictures at the British Institution in 1861 and 1862. Fahey died at The Grange, Shepherd's Bush Green, London. His son, Edward Henry Fahey (1844–1907), was well known as a painter in water-colours.

References

External links

James Fahey on Artnet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fahey, James 1804 births 1885 deaths 19th-century English painters English male painters English landscape painters English watercolourists People from Paddington 19th-century English male artists