Robert Crozier (1815–1891) was an English portrait artist, based in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. He was one of the Founder Members, and later President, of the

Manchester Academy of Fine Arts The Manchester Academy of Fine Arts (''MAFA'') was founded in 1859 by artists eager to promote art and education. It was originally based in the building on Mosley Street which is now Manchester Art Gallery where annual exhibitions and classes ...

Background

Robert Crozier was born on 17 October 1815 in

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...

, Lancashire. His father was George Crozier, a saddler and botanist."The Robert Crozier Collection"
''The University of Manchester Library'' website, accessed 28 September 2017Hewitt, Martin

''Biographical Dictionary of Victorian Manchester'' website, accessed 4 October 2009 After a childhood in Blackburn,

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish people, Flemish weavers settled in the area i ...

and

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

, he moved to Manchester in 1836, attending the Manchester School of Design from its opening in 1838, and became established as a portrait painter studying under William Bradley (1801–1857).

Career

He exhibited at the

Royal Manchester Institution The Royal Manchester Institution (RMI) was an England, English learned society founded on 1 October 1823 at a public meeting held in the Exchange Room by Manchester merchants, local artists and others keen to dispel the image of Manchester as a ...

in 1841, and 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 1854. After the success of an 1857 exhibition at the Langworthy Gallery,

Peel Park, Salford Peel Park is a public urban park in Salford, Greater Manchester, England, located on the flood plain of the River Irwell below Salford Crescent and adjacent to the University of Salford. It was the first of three public parks to be opened on 22 ...

, Crozier and other local artists established the

in 1859. Crozier was elected literary secretary of the Academy in 1861, becoming Treasurer in 1868, and President in 1878. Crozier died at his home at Sydney Street,

Chorlton-on-Medlock Chorlton-on-Medlock or Chorlton-upon-Medlock is an inner city area of Manchester, England. Historically in Lancashire, Chorlton-on-Medlock is bordered to the north by the River Medlock, which runs immediately south of Manchester city centre. It ...

on 7 February 1891. His son George Crozier (1846–1915) was a landscape painter.

References

19th-century English painters English male painters 1815 births 1891 deaths 19th-century English male artists {{England-painter-stub