The Liverpool Academy of Arts was founded in

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 ...

in April 1810 as a regional equivalent of 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 ...

, London. It followed the Liverpool Society of Artists, first founded in 1769, which had a fitful existence until 1794. Two local art collectors, Henry Blundell and

William Roscoe William Roscoe (8 March 175330 June 1831) was an English banker, lawyer, and briefly a Member of Parliament. He is best known as one of England's first abolitionists, and as the author of the poem for children '' The Butterfly's Ball, and the ...

were its first Patron and Secretary, the

prince regent A prince regent or princess regent is a prince or princess who, due to their position in the line of succession, rules a monarchy as regent in the stead of a monarch regnant, e.g., as a result of the sovereign's incapacity (minority or illness ...

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...

gave his patronage for the next three years, and it was actively promoted by presidents of the Royal Academy. It had a teaching school and staff included

William Spence William Guthrie Spence (7 August 1846 – 13 December 1926), was an Australian trade union leader and politician, played a leading role in the formation of both Australia's largest union, the Australian Workers' Union, and the Australian Labor ...

who served as its Professor of Drawing in the 1840s.Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851 by Rupert Gunnis p.363 Its membership included local artists such as the landscapists John Rathbone, Richard Ansdell, Thomas Chubbard,

Alfred William Hunt Alfred William Hunt (15 November 1830 – 3 May 1896), was a British painter. He was son of the landscapist Andrew Hunt. Biography Hunt was born in Liverpool in 1830. He began to paint while at the Liverpool Collegiate School. However at h ...

and Charles Barber, and the sculptor John Gibson. Leading artists of the day competed for its prize of £50 for non-local contributors to its annual exhibition, including J. M. W. Turner,

Henry Fuseli Henry Fuseli ( ; German: Johann Heinrich Füssli ; 7 February 1741 – 17 April 1825) was a Swiss painter, draughtsman and writer on art who spent much of his life in Britain. Many of his works, such as ''The Nightmare'', deal with supernatura ...

, John Martin and

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 ...

. In the late 1850s, however, it split due to major disagreements following annual prizes being awarded to the then controversial

Pre-Raphaelite The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (later known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, James ...

painters, particularly to

William Holman Hunt William Holman Hunt (2 April 1827 – 7 September 1910) was an English painter and one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. His paintings were notable for their great attention to detail, vivid colour, and elaborate symbolism. ...

in 1852 for ''Valentine Rescuing Sylvia from Proteus'' and to Millais in 1857 for ''The Blind Girl''. The Academy remained nominally in existence, continuing to hold annual exhibitions, but never regaining its national importance.

References

* Liverpool recalls its artistic past, ''The Times'', 10 June 1960 Regional and local learned societies of the United Kingdom 1810 establishments in England Cultural organisations based in Liverpool Organizations established in 1810 Arts organizations established in the 1810s {{art-org-stub