1756-1823 Scottish Sir Henry Raeburn Galleries He was born the son of a manufacturer in Stockbridge, a former village now within the city of Edinburgh. Orphaned, he was supported by his older brother and placed in Heriot's Hospital, where he received an education. At the age of fifteen he was apprenticed to a goldsmith, and various pieces of jewellery, mourning rings and the like, adorned with minute drawings on ivory by his hand, still exist. Soon he took to the production of carefully finished portrait miniatures; meeting with success and patronage, he extended his practice to oil painting, at which he was self-taught. The goldsmith watched the progress of his pupil with interest, and introduced him to David Martin, who bad been the favourite assistant of Allan Ramsay the Latter, and was now the leading portrait painter in Edinburgh. Raeburn was especially aided by the loan of portraits to copy. Soon he had gained sufficient skill to make him decide to devote himself exclusively to painting. In his early twenties, he was asked to paint the portrait of a young lady whom he had previously observed and admired when he was sketching from nature in the fields. She was the daughter of Peter Edgar of Bridgelands, and widow of Count Leslie. Fascinated by the handsome and intellectual young artist, she became his wife within a month, bringing him an ample fortune. The acquisition of wealth did not affect his enthusiasm or his industry, but spurred him on to acquire a thorough knowledge of his craft. It was usual for artists to visit Italy, and Raeburn set off with his wife. In London he was kindly received by Sir Joshua Reynolds, who advised him on what to study in Rome, especially recommending the works of Michelangelo. Raeburn carried with him to Italy many valuable introductions from the president of the Royal Academy. In Rome he met Gavin Hamilton, Pompeo Girolamo Batoni and Byers, an antique dealer whose advice proved particularly useful, especially the recommendation that "he should never copy an object from memory, but, from the principal figure to the minutest accessory, have it placed before him." After two years of study in Italy he returned to Edinburgh in 1787, and began a successful career as a portrait painter. In that year he executed a seated portrait of the second Lord President Dundas. Raeburn's portrait of Sir Walter Scott (1822)Examples of his earlier portraiture include a bust of Mrs Johnstone of Baldovie and a three-quarter-length of Dr James Hutton, works which, if somewhat timid and tentative in handling and not as confident as his later work, nevertheless have delicacy and character. The portraits of John Clerk, Lord Eldin, and of Principal Hill of St Andrews belong to a later period. Raeburn was fortunate in the time in which he practised portraiture. Sir Walter Scott, Hugh Blair, Henry Mackenzie, Lord Woodhouselee, William Robertson, John Home, Robert Fergusson, and Dugald Stewart were resident in Edinburgh, and were all painted by Raeburn. Mature works include his own portrait and that of the Rev. Sir Henry Moncrieff Wellwood, the bust of Dr Wardrop of Torbane Hill, the two full-lengths of Adam Rolland]] of Gask, the remarkable paintings of Lord Newton and Dr Alexander Adam in the National Gallery of Scotland, and that of William Macdonald of St Martin's. It was commonly believed that Raeburn was less successful in painting female portraits, but the exquisite full-length of his wife, the smaller likeness of Mrs R. Scott Moncrieff in the National Gallery of Scotland, and that of Mrs Robert Bell, and others, argue against this. Raeburn spent his life in Edinburgh, rarely visiting London, and then only for brief periods, thus preserving his individuality. Although he, personally, may have lost advantages resulting from closer association with the leaders of English art, and from contact with a wider public, Scottish art gained much from his disinclination to leave his native land. He became the acknowledged chief of the school which was growing up in Scotland during the earlier years of the 19th century, and his example and influence at a critical period were of major importance. So varied were his other interests that sitters used to say of him, "You would never take him for a painter till he seizes the brush and palette." In 1812 he was elected president of the Society of Artists in Edinburgh, in 1814 associate, and in the following year full member of the Royal Scottish Academy. In 1822 he was knighted by George IV and appointed His Majesty's limner for Scotland. He died at Edinburgh. The Reverend Robert Walker Skating on Duddingston Loch, better known as The Skating Minister (1790s)Raeburn had all the essential qualities of a popular and successful portrait painter. He was able to produce a telling and forcible likeness; his work is distinguished by powerful characterisation, stark realism, dramatic and unusual lighting effects, and swift and broad handling of the most resolute sort. David Wilkie recorded that, while travelling in Spain and studying the works of Diego Vel??zquez, the brushwork reminded him constantly of the "square touch" of Raeburn. Raeburn was unusual amongst many of his contemporaries, such as Reynolds, in the extent of his philosophy of painting everything directly from life. This attitude partly explains the often coarse modelling and clashing colour combinations he employed, in contrast to the more refined style of Thomas Gainsborough and Reynolds. However these qualities and those mentioned above anticipate many of the later developments in painting of the nineteenth century from romanticism to Impressionism. Sir Henry Raeburn died in St Bernard's House, Stockbridge, Edinburgh.  Related Paintings of Sir Henry Raeburn :. | Thomas Carmichael | Mrs Colin Campbell of Park | Henry - Boy and Rabbit | Portrat der Ms. Eleanor Urquhart | Ann Fraser, Mrs. Alexander Fraser Tytler |
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Workshop of Anton von Maron
Anton von Maron (January 8, 1733 - March 3, 1808) was an Austrian painter, active in Rome. Von Maron was born in Vienna, but moved at a young age to Rome. There, he studied under Anton Raphael Mengs, and became an accomplished portrait painter. He married a sister of Mengs, Therese Maron, who was a painter in her own right. He lived the rest of his life in Rome, and died there in 1808.
Jean Raoux
French Painter, 1677-1734, French painter. He trained first in Montpellier with Antoine Ranc (1634-1716), in whose studio he completed his early painting Ariadne on Naxos (1701; Montpellier, Mus. Fabre). He subsequently moved to the Paris studio of Bon Boullogne and in 1704 won the Prix de Rome with David Slaying Goliath (untraced). He completed his education at the Acad?mie de France in Rome and also spent time in Florence and Padua. For the Cathedral at Padua he executed an Annunciation and a Visitation (both in situ). In 1707-9 Raoux was in Venice, where he made contact with his future patron Philippe de Vendeme (1665-1727), Grand Prior of the Order of the Knights of Malta. From 1714 he lodged in the Grand Prior's Paris residence, the Temple, a privilege that was renewed in 1719 by Vendeme's successor Jean-Philippe,
Charles Francois Daubigny
b Feb. 15, 1817, Paris, France d.Feb. 19, 1878, Paris French 78, French landscape painter. He went to Italy early in life and later studied in Paris with Paul Delaroche. Although usually classed with the Barbizon school, he never lived in Barbizon. His last 30 years were spent largely in his houseboat on the Seine and the Oise, and he is best known for his pictures of the banks of those rivers. He was particularly successful in his atmospheric depiction of dawn, twilight, and moonlight. His later pictures are handled with great breadth. Monet and Boudin were especially attentive to his work. Daubigny is well represented in the Louvre, the Mesdag Museum (The Hague), the National Gallery (London), and the Metropolitan Museum. Characteristic are his Return of the Flock??Moonlight, Banks of the Oise, and Moonlight. His son Karl Pierre Daubigny, 1846?C86, painted in his father manner.