![Master Page, Anne Page, and Slender by John Downman, ARA](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/Master_Page%2C_Anne_Page%2C_and_Slender_by_John_Downman%2C_ARA.jpg)
John Downman (1750 – 24 December 1824) was a Welsh
portrait
A portrait is a portrait painting, painting, portrait photography, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, Personality type ...
and subject painter.
Life and work
Downman is thought to have been born near
Ruabon
Ruabon ( cy, Rhiwabon ) is a village and community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. The name comes from ''Rhiw Fabon'', ''rhiw'' being the Welsh word for "slope" or "hillside" and ''Fabon'' being a mutation from St Mabon, the original church ...
,
Denbighshire
Denbighshire ( ; cy, Sir Ddinbych; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. Its borders differ from the historic county of the same name. This part of Wales contains the country's oldest known evidence of habitation – Pontnewydd (Bontnewy ...
, the son of Francis Downman, attorney, of
St Neots
St NeotsPronunciation of the town name: Most commonly, but variations that ''saint'' is said as in most English non-georeferencing speech, the ''t'' is by a small minority of the British pronounced and higher traces of in the final syllable ...
, and Charlotte (née Goodsend, eldest daughter of the private secretary to
George I George I or 1 may refer to:
People
* Patriarch George I of Alexandria (fl. 621–631)
* George I of Constantinople (d. 686)
* George I of Antioch (d. 790)
* George I of Abkhazia (ruled 872/3–878/9)
* George I of Georgia (d. 1027)
* Yuri Dolgor ...
); his grandfather, Hugh Downman (1672–1729), had been the master of the House of Ordnance at
Sheerness
Sheerness () is a town and civil parish beside the mouth of the River Medway on the north-west corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 11,938, it is the second largest town on the island after the nearby town ...
. The Downman family is usually known as a Devonshire one, but the exact connexion between the artist and the Devonshire branch has not been traced. He was educated first at
Chester
Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...
, then at
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
, and finally at the
Royal Academy schools
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 purpo ...
, and was for a while in the studio 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 ...
.
![Baron Gustav Adam von Nolcken (1733-1813)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Baron_Gustav_Adam_von_Nolcken_%281733-1813%29.jpg)
Downman set off in 1773 with
Joseph Wright of Derby
Joseph Wright (3 September 1734 – 29 August 1797), styled Joseph Wright of Derby, was an English landscape and portrait painter. He has been acclaimed as "the first professional painter to express the spirit of the Industrial Revolution".
Wr ...
, a pregnant Ann Wright and
Richard Hurleston
Richard Hurlstone or Richard Hurleston (1740s – 1780s) was a British portrait painter known for being a pupil of Joseph Wright of Derby. He went to Italy with Wright and his wife. He returned and died young after being hit by lightning on Sal ...
for Italy. Their ship took shelter for three weeks in
Nice
Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...
before they completed their outward voyage in
Livorno
Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...
in Italy in February 1774.
Downman returned to Britain in 1775.
[Jane Munro, 'Downman, John (1750–1824)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 200]
accessed 7 Sept 2013
/ref>
He settled down for a while in Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
(1777), eventually coming to London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, where he contributed to various art exhibitions. In 1804 he moved to the village of West Malling
West Malling ( , historically Town Malling) is a market town in the Tonbridge and Malling district of Kent, England. It has a population of 2,590.
Landmarks
West Malling contains several historic buildings, including St Leonard's Tower, a Norma ...
in Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
. In 1806, Downman visited Plymouth
Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west.
Plymouth ...
in the West Country
The West Country (occasionally Westcountry) is a loosely defined area of South West England, usually taken to include all, some, or parts of the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, and, less commonly, Wiltshire, Gloucesters ...
, between 1807 and 1808 he practised at Exeter
Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol.
In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...
, afterwards working in London for some years, settling at Chester
Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...
in 1818-19, then finally moving to Wrexham
Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...
, where his only daughter married and where he died on 24 December 1824. He left a large collection of his paintings and drawings to his daughter. He was also the father of Sir Edwin Downman.
He exhibited 148 works in 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 ...
between 1769 and 1819, mainly portraits, but often fancy subjects, such as 'Rosalind,' painted for the Shakespeare Gallery; 'The Death of Lucretia; The Priestess of Bacchus;' 'Tobias;' 'Fair Rosamond;' 'The Return of Orestes;' 'Duke Robert,' etc. In 1795 he was elected an associate of the Royal Academy.
His first work at the Royal Academy (1769) was ''A small portrait in oil'',' and the last (1819), ''A late Princess personifying Peace crowning the glory of England reflected on Europe, 1815''. In 1884 the trustees of the British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
acquired, by purchase, a volume containing numerous coloured drawings by Downman, among which were several portraits, now separately mounted. He also left several volumes of exquisite drawings, executed in red and black chalk, of which Ralph Neville Grenville published a catalogue (Taunton, 1865). He also painted some miniature portraits. Engravings were also made by Bartolozzi and others. Many of his portraits have attached to them remarks of considerable importance respecting the persons represented.
Notes
References
*
*
Further reading
*Williamson, George Charles.
John Downman, A.R.A.; his life and works
(London: Otto limited, 1907). Illustrated in colour.
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Downman, John
People from Ruabon
English portrait painters
Portrait miniaturists
18th-century Welsh painters
18th-century Welsh male artists
19th-century Welsh painters
19th-century Welsh male artists
1750 births
1824 deaths
Welsh portrait painters
Associates of the Royal Academy
Alumni of the Royal Academy Schools