The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used more frequently than the full legal name.
James Barry was an Irish painter, best remembered for his six-part series of paintings entitled The Progress of Human Culture in the Great Room of the Royal Society of Arts in London. Because of his determination to create art according to his own principles rather than those of his patrons, he is also noted for being one of the earliest romantic painters working in Britain, though as an artist few rated him highly until the fully comprehensive 1983 exhibition at the Tate Gallery led to a reassessment of this "notoriously belligerent personality", who emerged as one of the most important Irish artists. He was also notable as a profound influence on William Blake.
Watercolor or watercolour, also aquarelle, is a painting method in which the paints are made of pigments suspended in a water-based solution. Watercolor refers to both the medium and the resulting artwork. Aquarelles painted with water-soluble colored ink instead of modern water colors are called aquarellum atramento by experts. However, this term has now tended to pass out of use.
Gregory Blaxland was an English pioneer farmer and explorer in Australia, noted especially for initiating and co-leading the first successful crossing of the Blue Mountains by European settlers.
The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature collections, and publishes academic journals and books on plant and animal biology. The society also awards a number of prestigious medals and prizes.
The year 1775 in science and technology involved some significant events.
Ferdinand Lucas Bauer was an Austrian botanical illustrator who travelled on Matthew Flinders' expedition to Australia.
The Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce held the first modern public exhibition on 21 April 1760 in London. It would be the first in a series of fine art exhibitions held by the institution later known as the Society of Arts. Prizes were offered for improvements in the manufacture of tapestry, carpets and porcelain, and winners were chosen from a competition of submitted articles. The show was open to society members and their friends.
The Albert Medal of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) was instituted in 1864 as a memorial to Prince Albert, who had been President of the Society for 18 years. It was first awarded in 1864 for "distinguished merit in promoting Arts, Manufactures and Commerce". In presenting the Medal, the Society now looks to acknowledge individuals, organisation and groups that lead progress and create positive change within contemporary society in areas that are linked closely to the Society's broad agenda.
George Frederick Folingsby was an Irish-born Australian painter and art educator.
Tortoiseshell or tortoise shell is a material produced from the shells of the larger species of tortoise and turtle, mainly the hawksbill sea turtle, which is a critically endangered species according to the IUCN Red List largely because of its exploitation for this trade. The large size, fine color, and unusual form of the hawksbill's scutes make it especially suitable. The distinctive patterning is referred to in names such as the tortoiseshell cat, several breeds of guinea pig, and the common names of several species of the butterfly genera Nymphalis and Aglais, and some other uses.
George Johann Scharf (1788–1860) was a water color painter, draughtsman and lithographer, and father of Sir George Scharf and Henry Scharf. He exhibited his paintings at the Royal Academy from 1817 to 1850, and was a member of the New Society of Painters in Water Colours.
Charles Bentley, was an English watercolour painter of coastal and river scenery.
James Sillett was an English still life and landscape artist. He showed himself to be one of the most versatile of the Norwich School of painters: although the great majority of his works were still lifes and landscapes, he was also a drawing master and a miniaturist. His botanical paintings illustrations have been praised for their accuracy and attention to detail. These and his still life paintings are considered to be his best work, with some experts ranking him with William Jackson Hooker, whose illustrations were both accurate and charming. Sillett's own accurate depictions of plants were often used for book illustrations. His paintings often have an academic style, influenced by the masters of the eighteenth century in a way that set him apart from his Norwich contemporaries. He exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1796 and 1837.
Marie Françoise Catherine Doetger "Fanny" Corbaux (1812–1883) was a British painter and biblical commentator. She was also the inventor of kalsomine (calcimine), whitewash with added zinc oxide.
John Vaughan Thompson FLS was a British military surgeon, marine biologist, zoologist, botanist, and published naturalist.
Mary Ellen Best (1809–1891) was an English artist. Most active in the 1830s, she usually worked in water-colour, commonly painting scenes of domestic life.
Henry James Richter (1772–1857), artist and philosopher, was born in Middlesex, possibly at 40 Great Newport Street, Soho, on 8 March 1772 and baptised at St Anne's Church, Soho, on 5 April at that same year.
Charles James Lea was an English interior artist. He described himself as an ecclesiastical decorator, completing many works mostly in his native Leicestershire before moving to work from Manchester from 1872. Perhaps his most famous work is the botanical paintings for the Ceilings of the Natural History Museum, London.
