Richard Buckner (born

Woolwich Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained thr ...

, London, 25 October 1812; died 12 August 1883), was an English portrait painter.

Origins

He was the son of Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Buckner (1772-1837), of Whyke House, Rumboldswhyke, Chichester,

Royal Regiment of Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

and a Deputy Lieutenant of Sussex, (a son of Admiral Charles Buckner), by his wife Mary Marsh Pierce.

Career

Buckner first worked in a studio in Whyke House, his family home. After serving in the army in 1832 and 1833 as a Second Lieutenant in The King's Royal Rifle Corps he studied painting under Giovanni Battista Cassevari in Rome. While in Rome Buckner gave advice to Frederick (Lord) Leighton, later PRA, when he was starting his career. Buckner lived in and had his studio in Cleveland Row, opposite St James's Palace, in London. He first painted miniatures but then changed to painting larger portraits. He painted Italian genre subjects and later elegant and fashionable Victorian ladies. He first sent work to galleries for sale in 1840. He exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts in 1842 and then every year from 1846 to 1877; 77 paintings in all of which only 7 were of Italian subjects and was nominated as a candidate for the academy. He also exhibited 22 paintings at The British Institution, 44 at The Royal Society of British Artists, 3 at The Grosvenor Gallery and 3 at The Royal Scottish Gallery. Buckner's commission book has entries from 1840-1 to 1877. It lists 989 commissions, a few of which were not executed. It also includes a financial summary from 1842-3 to 1874-5 with fees totalling £67249. The financial summary indicates that he was in Rome full-time in 1842-3 and 1843-4 and then partly in Rome and partly in London each year from 1844-5 until 1847-8 and again partly in Rome and London 1849-50, 1850-1, 1853-4, 1854-5 and 1856-7 and then partly in Dieppe 1861-2 and Boulogne 1862-3. In 1875, he was commissioned to execute a painting at a price of 500 guineas. Many engravings based on his works are in the National Portrait Gallery, London. His oil paintings ''Portrait of a boy'' and ''Portrait of a Boy Chorister of the Chapel Royal'' are in the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

. Eight National Trust properties have Buckner paintings; images for most of them can be seen on the NT website. There are also works by Buckner at the British Museum, the National Army Museum, Windsor Castle, Osborne House, Woburn Abbey, the Birmingham Art Gallery, Harewood House, the Foundling Hospital, County Hall, Maidstone and Castle Leslie in Ireland. Queen Adelaide, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert commissioned some of his paintings.

Works

File:Richard Buckner - Portrait of a boy.jpg, ''Portrait of a boy'' File:Richard Buckner Portrait of a Young Woman.jpg, ''Portrait of a Young Woman'' (private collection) File:Italian fisherboy.jpg, ''Young Italian Fisherboy'' File:Richard Buckner Portrait of Sir Wyndham Knatchbull.jpg, ''Sir Wyndham Knatchbull'' File:Richard Buckner portrait of Princess Marie Baden Duchess of Hamilton.jpg, Princess Marie Baden Duchess of Hamilton and Child

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buckner, Richard 1812 births 1883 deaths 19th-century English painters English portrait painters English male painters 19th-century English male artists