Richard Westall (2 January 1765 – 4 December 1836) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

painter and illustrator of

portraits A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this r ...

, historical and literary events, best known for his portraits of

Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and has been regarded as among the ...

. He was also

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

's drawing master.

Biography

George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron by Richard Westall (2)

Westall was the more successful of two half-brothers (both sons of a Benjamin Westall, from

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

) who both became painters. His younger half-brother was William Westall (1781–1850), a much-travelled landscape painter. Born on 2 January 1765 in Reepham near Norwich (where he was baptised at All Saints on 13 January in the same year), Richard Westall 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 ...

after the death of his mother and the bankruptcy of his father in 1772. Westall was

apprentice Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...

d to a heraldic silver engraver in 1779, where he was encouraged to become a painter by John Alefounder; he then began studying at the Royal Academy School of Arts from 10 December 1785. He exhibited at the Academy regularly between 1784 and 1836, became an Associate in November 1792 and was elected an Academician on 10 February 1794. From 1790 to 1795 he shared a house with

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 ...

(later Sir), the future Royal Academy president, at 57

Greek Street Greek Street is a street in Soho, London, leading south from Soho Square to Shaftesbury Avenue. The street is famous for its restaurants and cosmopolitan nature. History It is thought to take its name from a Greek church that was built in ...

, on the corner of

Soho Square Soho Square is a garden square in Soho, London, hosting since 1954 a ''de facto'' public park let by the Soho Square Garden Committee to Westminster City Council. It was originally called King Square after Charles II, and a much weathered ...

, each of the artists placing their name on one of the entrances.

Works

Richard Westall - Landscape - solitude - Google Art Project

His works – many in

watercolour Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

– caused great interest in the late years of the 18th century when he was considered by his chief patron

Richard Payne Knight Richard Payne Knight (11 February 1751 – 23 April 1824) of Downton Castle in Herefordshire, and of 5 Soho Square,History of Parliament biography London, England, was a classical scholar, connoisseur, archaeologist and numismatist best ...

to be an outstanding artist of the

picturesque Picturesque is an aesthetic ideal introduced into English cultural debate in 1782 by William Gilpin in ''Observations on the River Wye, and Several Parts of South Wales, etc. Relative Chiefly to Picturesque Beauty; made in the Summer of the Year ...

. He painted works in a neoclassical style for

John Boydell John Boydell (; 19 January 1720 (New Style) – 12 December 1804) was a British publisher noted for his reproductions of engravings. He helped alter the trade imbalance between Britain and France in engravings and initiated a British tradition i ...

's Shakespeare Gallery and for

Henry Fuseli Henry Fuseli ( ; German: Johann Heinrich Füssli ; 7 February 1741 – 17 April 1825) was a Swiss painter, draughtsman and writer on art who spent much of his life in Britain. Many of his works, such as '' The Nightmare'', deal with supernatu ...

's Milton Gallery. His painting of John Milton and his daughters hangs in

Sir John Soane's Museum Sir John Soane's Museum is a house museum, located next to Lincoln's Inn Fields in Holborn, London, which was formerly the home of neo-classical architect, John Soane. It holds many drawings and architectural models of Soane's projects, and ...

in London. A number of scenes in which Westall depicts events in the life of Horatio Nelson are at the

National Maritime Museum The National Maritime Museum (NMM) is a maritime museum in Greenwich, London. It is part of Royal Museums Greenwich, a network of museums in the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site. Like other publicly funded national museums in the Unite ...

. Westall was a prolific book illustrator of both fiction and poetry, including the works of Sir

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy ...

, Oliver Goldsmith,

William Cowper William Cowper ( ; 26 November 1731 – 25 April 1800) was an English poet and Anglican hymnwriter. One of the most popular poets of his time, Cowper changed the direction of 18th-century nature poetry by writing of everyday life and sce ...

and

Thomas Gray Thomas Gray (26 December 1716 – 30 July 1771) was an English poet, letter-writer, classical scholar, and professor at Pembroke College, Cambridge. He is widely known for his '' Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard,'' published in 1751. G ...

, who greatly admired his work, stated that "the brush has beat the poetry". Westall was commissioned to provide illustrations to

's editions of Shakespeare and John Milton. He also illustrated editions of the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...

, including one with John Martin. His oil painting ''Christ Crowned with Thorns'' is the altarpiece at All Souls Church, Langham Place, London. His portraiture, in a style similar to Lawrence's, included Princess Victoria (later

, for whom he was art teacher for eight years before his death on 4 December 1836), and Richard Ayton, a writer who collaborated with landscape artist

William Daniell William Daniell (1769–1837) was an English landscape and marine painter, and printmaker, notable for his work in aquatint. He travelled extensively in India in the company of his uncle Thomas Daniell, with whom he collaborated on one of th ...

(Westall's brother-in-law). Richard Westall is perhaps best known for several portraits of

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and has been regarded as among the ...

. One of these hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in London, another at

Hughenden Manor Hughenden Manor, Hughenden, Buckinghamshire, England, is a Victorian mansion, with earlier origins, that served as the country house of the Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield. It is now owned by the National Trust and o ...

, and a third in the House of Lords. File:Wolsey disgraced (Westall, 1795).jpg, ''Wolsey disgraced'', 1795 File:Shylock rebuffing Antonio (Westall, 1795).jpg, ''Shylock rebuffing Antonio'', 1795 File:Richard Westall - Lady Hamilton (as St Cecilia).jpg, ''Lady Hamilton as St Cecilia'', late 18th–early 19th century File:Westall Vertumnus and Pomona.jpg, ''Vertumnus and Pomona'', early 19th century File:Nelson at Cadiz.jpg, ''Nelson at Cadiz'', 1806 File:Sir Horatio Nelson when wounded at Teneriffe.jpg, ''Sir Horatio Nelson when wounded at Teneriffe'', 1806 File:Damocles-WestallPC20080120-8842A.jpg, ''The Sword of

Damocles Damocles is a character who appears in an (likely apocryphal) anecdote commonly referred to as "the sword of Damocles", an allusion to the imminent and ever-present peril faced by those in positions of power. Damocles was a courtier in the cou ...

'', 1812

References

Sources

*Marina Warner,. ''Queen Victoria's Sketchbook'', Macmillan, 1979. *John Ramm, Forgotten Pioneer, ''Antique Dealer & Collectors Guide'', Nov 1998, Volume 53, No. 4 *Richard J. Westall, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2004

External links

* *
Richard Westall online
(Artcyclopedia)
Works by R. Westall
( V&A)
Portrait of a Woman seated in a Landscape with a spaniel
(1793 watercolour -

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

) * * * * Engraving by Charles Heath of the painting with a poetical illustration by

Letitia Elizabeth Landon Letitia Elizabeth Landon (14 August 1802 – 15 October 1838) was an English poet and novelist, better known by her initials L.E.L. The writings of Landon are transitional between Romanticism and the Victorian Age. Her first major breakthrough ...

in Forget Me Not annual for 1825. * Engraving by Charles Heath of the painting with a poem by

Felicia Hemans Felicia Dorothea Hemans (25 September 1793 – 16 May 1835) was an English poet (who identified as Welsh by adoption). Two of her opening lines, "The boy stood on the burning deck" and "The stately homes of England", have acquired classic statu ...

in The Amulet annual for 1826. * Engraving by Edward Francis Finden of the painting with a poetical illustration by

in Forget Me Not annual for 1827. * Engraving by R. Staines of the painting with a poetical illustration (Henri IV. to the Fair Gabrielle) by

in The Literary Souvenir annual for 1835. * Picture in oil colours by George Baxter of in Pictorial Album; or, Cabinet of Paintings, 1837, with a poetical illustration by

{{DEFAULTSORT:Westall, Richard 1765 births 1836 deaths People from Reepham, Norfolk 18th-century English painters English male painters 19th-century English painters English watercolourists English portrait painters English illustrators Royal Academicians 19th-century painters of historical subjects 19th-century English male artists 18th-century English male artists