Thomas Foster (1798 – 1826) was an Irish

portrait painter Portrait Painting is a genre in painting, where the intent is to represent a specific human subject. The term 'portrait painting' can also describe the actual painted portrait. Portraitists may create their work by commission, for public and pr ...

Life

Thomas Foster was born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

between 1796 and 1798. He enrolled in the

Dublin Society The Royal Dublin Society (RDS) ( ga, Cumann Ríoga Bhaile Átha Cliath) is an Irish philanthropic organisation and members club which was founded as the 'Dublin Society' on 25 June 1731 with the aim to see Ireland thrive culturally and economi ...

School in 1811. Foster died by suicide in March 1826 aged 29. He shot himself in a hotel in

Piccadilly Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road that connects central London to Hammersmith, Earl's Court, ...

, London. In a letter he stated his friends had abandoned him and that he had grown tired of life. It is unclear if he was troubled by the large commission he received from

John Wilson Croker John Wilson Croker (20 December 178010 August 1857) was an Anglo-Irish statesman and author. Life He was born in Galway, the only son of John Croker, the surveyor-general of customs and excise in Ireland. He was educated at Trinity College Dubl ...

or by an unrequited love for a young woman who was the subject of one of his portraits.

Career

He was awarded a premium for 2 portraits and a subject picture in 1815 which were exhibited with Hibernian Society of Artists, and a painting titled ''The Adoration of the Shepherds'' exhibited on Hawkins Street. In 1816 he exhibited ''Hercules throwing Lychas into the Sea'', and in 1817 two works, ''Portrait'' and ''Christ taken down from the Cross''. Foster moved to London in 1818 at age 21 and entered the schools 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 ...

. He visited the studio of the sculptor

Joseph Nollekens Joseph Nollekens R.A. (11 August 1737 – 23 April 1823) was a sculptor from London generally considered to be the finest British sculptor of the late 18th century. Life Nollekens was born on 11 August 1737 at 28 Dean Street, Soho, London, ...

regularly, modelling from antique heads. He became friends with Croker, and painted portraits of a number of Croker's relatives. He was also an acquaintance of Sir

Thomas Lawrence Sir Thomas Lawrence (13 April 1769 – 7 January 1830) was an English portrait painter and the fourth president of the Royal Academy. A child prodigy, he was born in Bristol and began drawing in Devizes, where his father was an innkeeper at t ...

, and he copied Lawrence's portraits for Croker. He exhibited with the Royal Academy from 1819 to 1825. In 1822 he exhibited ''Mazeppa''. He also exhibited with the

British Institution The British Institution (in full, the British Institution for Promoting the Fine Arts in the United Kingdom; founded 1805, disbanded 1867) was a private 19th-century society in London formed to exhibit the works of living and dead artists; it w ...

between 1819 and 1826. He was among the first associates of the

Royal Hibernian Academy The Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA) is an artist-based and artist-oriented institution in Ireland, founded in Dublin in 1823. Like many other Irish institutions, such as the RIA, the academy retained the word "Royal" after most of Ireland became in ...

(RHA), but died before the first exhibition. Foster was considered well-connected and was popular in society, but fellow painter

James Northcote James Northcote (22 October 1746, in Plymouth – 13 July 1831, in London) was a British painter. Life and work Northcote was born in Plymouth, and was apprenticed to his father, Samuel Northcote, a watchmaker. In his spare time, he drew and ...

believed this hindered him in becoming a great artist as he spent too much time socialising. Foster was a model for one of the murderers in Northcote's ''Burial of the Princes in the Tower''. Foster had been commissioned to paint the scene of

Louis XVIII Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. He spent twenty-three years in ...

receiving the

Order of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. It is the most senior order of knighthood in the British honours system, outranked in precedence only by the Victoria Cross and the George C ...

Carlton House Carlton House was a mansion in Westminster, best known as the town residence of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV. It faced the south side of Pall Mall, London, Pall Mall, and its gardens abutted St James's Park in the St James' ...

, for which he produced a number of studies. At the time of his death he left an unfinished portrait of

John Banim John Banim (3 April 1798 – 30 August 1842), was an Irish novelist, short story writer, dramatist, poet and essayist, sometimes called the "Scott of Ireland." He also studied art, working as a painter of miniatures and portraits, and as a drawin ...

on his easel. Four of his paintings were shown posthumously at the first exhibition of the RHA.

Selected works

*''The Cup found in Benjamin's Sack'' (1818) *''Mercury sealing up the Eyes of Argus'' (1819) *''Portrait of Thomas Elrington, Provost of Trinity College'' (1820) *''Sir Henry Bishop (1821)'' *''Colonel Phillips (1821)'' *''Miss Tree (1823)''

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, Thomas 1798 births 1826 deaths 19th-century Irish painters Irish male painters Irish portrait painters Painters who committed suicide 1820s suicides 19th-century Irish male artists