William Bradley (1801–1857) was an English portrait artist.

Biography

Bradley was born 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 ...

, England. He was left an orphan when only three years of age. He started life as an errand boy, but his taste for drawing prevailed and at sixteen years of age he began practice as an artist. He took portraits at one shilling each and advertising himself as "portrait, miniature, and animal painter, and teacher of drawing". He had a few lessons himself from

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, then in high repute at Manchester; and at the age of twenty-one went to London, where he was fortunate enough to obtain an introduction to 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 ...

, who gave him encouragement. After remaining some years in the metropolis, in the course of which time he paid occasional visits to Manchester, he finally, in 1847, settled down in the latter town; where, as in London, he enjoyed a large share of patronage. Amongst the portraits painted by him are those of Lords Beresford, Sandon, Denbigh, Bagot, and Ellesmere; Sir E. Kerrison, John Gladstone, B. Heywood,

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; Col. Currieton, C.B., Col. Anderton, the Rt. Hon. W. E. Gladstone, Sheridan Knowles,

W. C. Macready William Charles Macready (3 March 179327 April 1873) was an English actor. Life He was born in London the son of William Macready the elder, and actress Christina Ann Birch. Educated at Rugby School where he became headboy, and where now the t ...

. As an artist Bradley undoubtedly possessed high talent. His heads are remarkable for skillful drawing, and he was not second to any man of the day in producing a striking and intellectual likeness. During his later years his health failed, his mind was affected, and he lost the money he had made in his early career. He died in 1857. Two of his oil painting portraits and a number of prints of his work are in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, London.Search the Collection: William Bradley (1801–1857), Portrait painter
National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 22 January 2014. Sir George Thomas Smart by William Bradley.jpg, Sir

George Thomas Smart Sir George Thomas Smart (10 May 1776 – 23 February 1867) was an English musician. Smart was born in London, his father being a music-seller. He was a choir-boy at the Chapel Royal, and was educated in music, becoming an expert violinist, orga ...

Sir Robert Seppings, 1767-1840 RMG BHC3019.tiff, Sir Robert Seppings Charles Swain by William Bradley.jpg, Charles Swain

External links

2
William Bradley, Masterworks and Sketches

References

* Attribution: * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bradley, Thomas William 1801 births 1857 deaths English portrait painters Artists from Manchester 19th-century English painters English male painters 19th-century English male artists