James John Hill (1811 – 27 January 1882), known also by his alias J. J. Hill, was an English landscape and portrait painter, known for his many rustic paintings and portraits of Lady Burdett-Coutts.

Early life and career

James John Hill was born sometime in 1811 in Broad Street,

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

to Daniel Hill, plater, and Elizabeth Rowlinson, the daughter of a brass founder. He was educated at Hazelwood School, a school founded by the educational reformer Rowland Hill (no relation), and he attended Joseph Barber's art academy in Great Charles Street, at the time being taught by his son

Vincent Vincent ( la, Vincentius) is a male given name derived from the Roman name Vincentius, which is derived from the Latin word (''to conquer''). People with the given name Artists *Vincent Apap (1909–2003), Maltese sculptor *Vincent van Gogh ...

. His fellow pupils included

Thomas Creswick Thomas Creswick (5 February 181128 December 1869) was a British landscapist and illustrator, and one of the best-known members of the Birmingham School of landscapists. Biography Creswick was born in Sheffield (at the time it was within Der ...

, James Tibbits Willmore, Thomas Baker, and Peter Hollins. Having moved to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 1839, Hill was elected in 1842 a member of 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 ...

. There, he became known as a 'popular contributor' among his fellow artists, showing off his artwork in a number of their exhibitions across the next forty years. He operated primarily in London, painting many portraits of Lady Burdett-Coutts, a Victorian philanthropist, and her many pets. He was allegedly a good friend of hers. His paintings were known to depict mainly girls and boys and their families residing in the countryside, nature being present in almost all of his artwork, and in his later career he moved from painting mainly portraits and people to painting landscapes. Most of his landscape paintings were inspired by his visit to Ireland in 1854. He found less success in painting landscapes than he did scenes of wildlife and people.

Later career

In his later life, Hill devoted himself primarily to painting landscapes and had a number of his paintings featured in London newspapers. He died on 27 January 1882, aged 71, at Sutton House, London, having contracted

bronchitis Bronchitis is inflammation of the bronchi (large and medium-sized airways) in the lungs that causes coughing. Bronchitis usually begins as an infection in the nose, ears, throat, or sinuses. The infection then makes its way down to the bronchi. ...

and was buried in a family grave on the west side of

Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in north London, England. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East Cemeteries. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for some of the people buried there as ...

Family

Hill had five children altogether. His first child – also James John Hill – was born to an unknown mother in 1838, and the other four – Daniel, Emily, Thomas and Alfred – to Harriet Parsons. His eldest son went on to become a marine engineer and had many children of his own. Hill's brother, Daniel Rowlinson Hill, was an architect based in Birmingham, and his cousin was Daniel Rowlinson Ratcliff, a lock and safe manufacturer and also an MP.

References

External links

Sutcliffgalleries.com

Invaluable.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, James John 1811 births 1882 deaths Burials at Highgate Cemetery English landscape painters English portrait painters 19th-century English painters English male painters Members of the Royal Society of British Artists 19th-century English male artists

Early life and career

Later career

Family

See also

References

External links