Sir Walter Armstrong (7 February 1850

Hawick Hawick ( ; sco, Haaick; gd, Hamhaig) is a town in the Scottish Borders council area and historic county of Roxburghshire in the east Southern Uplands of Scotland. It is south-west of Jedburgh and south-south-east of Selkirk. It is one ...

, Roxburghshire – 8 August 1918 London) was a British art historian and author. Family vault of Sir Walter Armstrong

Early life

Armstrong was born on 7 February 1850. He was educated at Harrow and

Exeter College, Oxford (Let Exeter Flourish) , old_names = ''Stapeldon Hall'' , named_for = Walter de Stapledon, Bishop of Exeter , established = , sister_college = Emmanuel College, Cambridge , rector = Sir Richard Trainor ...

Career

For 10 years after 1880 he was art critic to several newspapers, such as the ''

Pall Mall Gazette ''The Pall Mall Gazette'' was an evening newspaper founded in London on 7 February 1865 by George Murray Smith; its first editor was Frederick Greenwood. In 1921, '' The Globe'' merged into ''The Pall Mall Gazette'', which itself was absorbed in ...

'', the '' Manchester Guardian'', and the old ''

Manchester Examiner The ''Manchester Examiner'' was a newspaper based in Manchester, England, that was founded around 1845–1846. Initially intended as an organ to promote the idea of Manchester Liberalism, a decline in its later years led to a takeover by a group w ...

''. He made his mark in the art world, and was consulted by students and collectors, becoming an authority especially on

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

17th-century and English 18th-century painting. Several fine collections, of which that of Mr. S. Joseph, was one, were mainly formed under his advice. In 1892, he succeeded the late Henry Doyle as Director of the

National Gallery of Ireland The National Gallery of Ireland ( ga, Gailearaí Náisiúnta na hÉireann) houses the national collection of Irish and European art. It is located in the centre of Dublin with one entrance on Merrion Square, beside Leinster House, and another on ...

in Dublin, which his predecessor had reorganized and developed; and in this post Armstrong remained for over 20 years, his services recognized by a

knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the ...

in 1899. During his time in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

he wrote many books, among which his stately volumes on Sir Joshua Reynolds,

Gainsborough Gainsborough or Gainsboro may refer to: Places * Gainsborough, Ipswich, Suffolk, England ** Gainsborough Ward, Ipswich * Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, a town in England ** Gainsborough (UK Parliament constituency) * Gainsborough, New South Wales, ...

, and Raeburn were the chief, that held a position of authority for many years afterwards. Earlier and later he wrote columns on men so various as

Peter De Wint Peter De Wint (21 January 1784 – 30 January 1849) was an English landscape painter. A number of his pictures are in the National Gallery, the Victoria and Albert Museum and The Collection, Lincoln. He died in London. Biography De Wint wa ...

, Velasquez, and 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 ...

, and a book of "Notes" on the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director ...

, containing many suggestive criticisms. Armstrong was said to be quick at absorbing the essential points of contemporary researchers and in judging them by the aid of a keen eye and a clear brain.

Personal life and death

In 1873 he married Emily Rose Ferard of Ascot Place, of which there was issue. He died in

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

on 12 August 1918. and is buried in a family vault on the Lebanon Circle at

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 ...

(West). Also interred in the family vault is the Armstrong's daughter Mary Beatrice who married

Rowland Ponsonby Blennerhassett Rowland Ponsonby Blennerhassett KC, JP (22 July 1850 – 7 April 1913) was an Irish politician. Early life He was the only son of Richard Francis Blennerhassett and his wife Honoria Ponsonby, daughter of William Carrique Ponsonby. Blennerhass ...

in 1876.

Selected publications

* * * * * * * *

References

External links

*
Web page on Walter Armstrong at the National Gallery of Ireland
* * 1850 births 1918 deaths Burials at Highgate Cemetery People educated at Harrow School Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford British art critics British historians Museum people from Dublin (city) {{England-writer-stub