William West (1801–61) was an English

oil painter Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on wood panel or canvas for several centuries, spreading from Europe to the rest of ...

and watercolourist who was a member of the

Bristol School The Bristol School (or Bristol School of Artists) is a term applied retrospectively to describe the informal association and works of a group of artists working in Bristol, England, in the early 19th century. It was mainly active in the 1820 ...

of artists. He was also the builder of the

Clifton Observatory Clifton Observatory () is a former mill, now used as an observatory, located on Clifton Down, close to the Clifton Suspension Bridge, Bristol, England. The building was erected, with the permission of the Society of Merchant Venturers, as a w ...

Clifton Down Clifton Down is an area of public open space in Bristol, England, north of the village of Clifton. With its neighbour Durdham Down to the northeast, it constitutes the large area known as The Downs, much used for leisure including walking and t ...

, Bristol. West arrived in Bristol around 1823. He started exhibiting there in 1823, and from 1824 as well as participating in the sketching activities of the Bristol School he exhibited at 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 ...

and 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 ...

. However, after 1826 he did not exhibit at those two institutions again until 1845. From 1847 he concentrated on Norwegian subjects. West developed a great interest in optics and engineering. In 1828 he leased a disused windmill on

and installed a large telescope in its tower to turn it into an

observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysical, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. His ...

. In 1829 he replaced the telescope with a camera obscura. From 1835 he extended the windmill to create a new observatory, building a large dome to house a rotating telescope. He filled the observatory with a collection of maps, globes and optical instruments. In 1837 he opened a tunnel 61 m (200 ft) in length which he had excavated from the observatory down to St Vincent's Cave on the cliff-face of the Avon Gorge. In 1834 West exhibited ''The Avon Gorge from the summit of the Observatory'', an oil painting from the vantage point that he had built.

References

External links

Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery

Clifton Observatory
{{DEFAULTSORT:West, William 1801 births 1861 deaths 19th-century English painters English male painters History of Bristol English watercolourists Landscape artists English romantic painters Artists from Bristol People from Clifton, Bristol 19th-century English male artists