William Hemsley (London 1817
or 1819
– 24 December 1906
[ London) was a British artist who specialised in genre paintings.
]
Biography
William was born in London, the son of architect William Whitfield Hemsley (1796–1867) and Caroline Amelia Hemsley, née Jones (1797–1872). He was sent away to preparatory school in Brighton at a young age, and began to develop an interest in art through painting portraits as a teenager. Upon his return to London, he began to train in his father's profession and found employment as a drawing clerk in the office of John Crake. However, he continued to be drawn to art, and left early in his career in order to paint professionally. He began to exhibit at artistic societies, and his works were regularly reported upon in ''The Art Journal
''The Art Journal'' was the most important British 19th-century magazine on art. It was founded in 1839 by Hodgson & Graves, print publishers, 6 Pall Mall, with the title ''Art Union Monthly Journal'' (or ''The Art Union''), the first issue of 7 ...
''. Hemsley's technique was compared to the Dutch style, but attention was also drawn to his "love for fun." Many of his works depicted rustic domestic scenes, leading to him being described as "pre-eminently the painter of cottage life."
In 1859, Hemsley was elected to the Society of British Artists
The Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) is a British art body established in 1823 as the Society of British Artists, as an alternative to the Royal Academy.
History
The RBA commenced with twenty-seven members, and took until 1876 to reach fif ...
, and served as the vice president of the organisation, which later became the Royal Society of British Artists (RBA), for many years. He was also a steward of the Artists' General Benevolent Institution
The Artists' General Benevolent Institution is a British charity assisting professional artists in England, Wales and Northern Ireland who are in financial difficulty due to illness, old age or accident. It was founded in 1814 by members of the Ro ...
.
For most of his adult life, Hemsley resided in London, including at 5 Marlborough Street, and at addresses in Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
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United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
and South Kensington
South Kensington, nicknamed Little Paris, is a district just west of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with ...
. He also undertook numerous study trips abroad, including to France and Holland. He died on 24 December 1906, aged 89, at the home of his youngest son in south London, Walter Howard Hemsley (d. 1912). He was buried at Brompton Cemetery
Brompton Cemetery (originally the West of London and Westminster Cemetery) is a London cemetery, managed by The Royal Parks, in West Brompton in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is one of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries. Establ ...
in west London.
Exhibitions
Between the years of 1848 and 1880, Hemsley exhibited 120 works in major London exhibitions, at the Royal Academy, the British Institute and the Society of British Artists
The Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) is a British art body established in 1823 as the Society of British Artists, as an alternative to the Royal Academy.
History
The RBA commenced with twenty-seven members, and took until 1876 to reach fif ...
' Suffolk Street gallery. A number of his paintings were featured at the 1862 International Exhibition
The International Exhibition of 1862, or Great London Exposition, was a world's fair. It was held from 1 May to 1 November 1862, beside the gardens of the Royal Horticultural Society, South Kensington, London, England, on a site that now houses ...
[ and the Exposition universelle de 1867, world's fairs held in London and Paris respectively, as well as at other British galleries including ]Manchester Art Gallery
Manchester Art Gallery, formerly Manchester City Art Gallery, is a publicly owned art museum on Mosley Street in Manchester city centre. The main gallery premises were built for a learned society in 1823 and today its collection occupies three ...
and Liverpool's Walker Art Gallery
The Walker Art Gallery is an art gallery in Liverpool, which houses one of the largest art collections in England outside London. It is part of the National Museums Liverpool group.
History of the Gallery
The Walker Art Gallery's collection ...
. Prints, usually wood-engraving
Wood engraving is a printmaking technique, in which an artist works an image or ''matrix'' of images into a block of wood. Functionally a variety of woodcut, it uses relief printing, where the artist applies ink to the face of the block and ...
s, after his paintings appeared in the ''Illustrated London News
''The Illustrated London News'' appeared first on Saturday 14 May 1842, as the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. Founded by Herbert Ingram, it appeared weekly until 1971, then less frequently thereafter, and ceased publication i ...
'', ''Illustrated News of the World
An illustration is a decoration, interpretation or visual explanation of a text, concept or process, designed for integration in print and digital published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, vid ...
'', and ''The Art Journal
''The Art Journal'' was the most important British 19th-century magazine on art. It was founded in 1839 by Hodgson & Graves, print publishers, 6 Pall Mall, with the title ''Art Union Monthly Journal'' (or ''The Art Union''), the first issue of 7 ...
''.
Today, Hemsley's paintings can be found at the Wellcome Library
The Wellcome Library is founded on the collection formed by Sir Henry Wellcome (1853–1936), whose personal wealth allowed him to create one of the most ambitious collections of the 20th century. Henry Wellcome's interest was the history of me ...
in London, and as part of public collections in Bath, Birkenhead, Hull, Leeds, Southport, and Wolverhampton.
Selected paintings
William Hemsley - A sham.jpg, A Sham
William Hemsley Divided attention.jpg, Divided Attention
William Hemsley Porridge.jpg, Porridge
The young dentist. Oil painting by William Hemsley. Wellcome V0017180.jpg, The Young Dentist
William Hemsley The young poacher 1874.jpg, The Young Poacher
References
External links
*
William Hemsley at Suffolk Painters
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hemsley, William
19th-century English painters
English male painters
1819 births
1906 deaths
Painters from London
British genre painters
Members of the Royal Society of British Artists
19th-century English male artists