The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly in London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and appreciation of the visual arts through exhibitions, education and debate.
The Georgian era was a period in British history from 1714 to c. 1830–1837, named after the Hanoverian kings George I, George II, George III and George IV. The definition of the Georgian era is also often extended to include the relatively short reign of William IV, which ended with his death in 1837. The subperiod that is the Regency era is defined by the regency of George IV as Prince of Wales during the illness of his father George III. The transition to the Victorian era was characterized in religion, social values, and the arts by a shift in tone away from rationalism and toward romanticism and mysticism.
Benjamin West was a British-American artist who painted famous historical scenes such as The Death of Nelson, The Death of General Wolfe, the Treaty of Paris, and Benjamin Franklin Drawing Electricity from the Sky.
Paul Sandby was an English map-maker turned landscape painter in watercolours, who, along with his older brother Thomas, became one of the founding members of the Royal Academy in 1768.
Dominic Serres (1722–1793), also known as Dominic Serres the Elder, was a French-born painter strongly associated with the English school of painting, and with paintings with a naval or marine theme. Such were his connections with the English art world, that he became one of the founding members of the Royal Academy in 1768, and was later briefly its librarian.
Military art is art with a military subject matter, regardless of its style or medium. The battle scene is one of the oldest types of art in developed civilizations, as rulers have always been keen to celebrate their victories and intimidate potential opponents. The depiction of other aspects of warfare, especially the suffering of casualties and civilians, has taken much longer to develop. As well as portraits of military figures, depictions of anonymous soldiers on the battlefield have been very common; since the introduction of military uniforms such works often concentrate on showing the variety of these.
The Death of General Wolfe is a 1770 painting by Anglo-American artist Benjamin West, commemorating the 1759 Battle of Quebec, where General James Wolfe died at the moment of victory. The painting, containing vivid suggestions of martyrdom, broke a standard rule of historical portraiture by featuring individuals who had not been present at the scene and dressed in modern, instead of classical, costumes. The painting has become one of the best-known images in 18th-century art.
Eugène Louis Lami was a French painter and lithographer. He was a painter of fashionable Paris during the period of the July Monarchy and the Second French Empire and also made history paintings and illustrations for books such as Gil Blas and Manon Lescaut.
Thomas Jones Barker was an English historical, military, and portrait painter.
The Society of Artists of Great Britain was founded in London in May 1761 by an association of artists in order to provide a venue for the public exhibition of recent work by living artists, such as was having success in the long-established Paris salons. Leading members seceded from the society in 1768, a move leading directly to the formation of the Royal Academy of Arts. The society was dissolved 1791 after years of decline.
Marine art or maritime art is a form of figurative art that portrays or draws its main inspiration from the sea. Maritime painting is a genre that depicts ships and the sea—a genre particularly strong from the 17th to 19th centuries. In practice the term often covers art showing shipping on rivers and estuaries, beach scenes and all art showing boats, without any rigid distinction – for practical reasons subjects that can be drawn or painted from dry land in fact feature strongly in the genre. Strictly speaking "maritime art" should always include some element of human seafaring, whereas "marine art" would also include pure seascapes with no human element, though this distinction may not be observed in practice.
George Jones was a British painter, and Keeper of the Royal Academy, most famous for his paintings of military subjects.
Philippe Mercier was an artist of French Huguenot descent from the German realm of Brandenburg-Prussia, usually defined to French school. Active in England for most of his working life, Mercier is considered one of the first practitioners of the Rococo style, and is credited with influencing a new generation of 18th-century English artists.
Marine art was especially popular in Britain during the Romantic Era, and taken up readily by British artists in part because of Great Britain's geographical form. This article deals with marine art as a specialized genre practised by artists who did little or nothing else, and does not cover the marine works of the leading painters of the period, such as, and above all, J. M. W. Turner. The tradition of British marine art as a specialized genre with a strong emphasis on the shipping depicted began in large part with the artists Willem Van de Velde the Elder and his son, called the Younger in the early 18th century. The Van Veldes, originally from Holland, moved to England to work for King Charles II). By the 17th century, marine art was commissioned mostly by merchant seamen and naval officers and created by marine art specialists. In part, marine art served as a visual portrayal of Britain's power on the sea and as a way of historically documenting battles and the like. As British sea captains began to recognize the ability of marine artists to bring Britain's success on the sea to the public on land, some took on an active role in supporting this type of artwork. For example, marine artist Robert Cleveley was hired by Captain William Locker to work in HMS Thames as a clerk, and Captain Locker, interested in employing artists, is believed to have played a significant role in encouraging Cleveley to work as a marine painter. Captains would act as marine artists' patrons, commissioning them to paint portraits of themselves and pictures depicting important battles. A few significant marine artists who were supported in this way by naval officers are Nicholas Pocock, Thomas Luny, and George Chambers. William Hodges, for example, who was trained to draw at William Shipley's Academy, was hired by the Admiralty to finish his pictures from Cook's 1772 voyage for publication upon reaching home in 1775. Captains also commissioned artists to paint portraits of their ships.
The Death of Major Peirson, 6 January 1781 is a large oil painting executed in 1783 by the Anglo-American artist John Singleton Copley. It depicts the death of Major Francis Peirson at the Battle of Jersey on 6 January 1781, part of the European Theatre of the American Revolutionary War.
Richard Wright was an English marine painter. An entirely self-taught artist, he first appeared as an exhibitor in London in 1760, and between that date and 1773 exhibited twenty-five works with the Incorporated Society of Artists and one with the Free Society.
David Morier, was an Anglo-Swiss painter of portraits, military subjects and historical scenes around and after the time of the War of the Austrian Succession and the related Jacobite rising of 1745.
The Battle of Camperdown is a 1799 history painting by the American-born painter John Singleton Copley. It depicts the conclusion to the Battle of Camperdown on 11 October 1797, which was fought in the North Sea between fleets of the Royal Navy and the Batavian Navy during the War of the First Coalition. A decisive British victory, Copley's painting shows British Admiral Adam Duncan accepting the surrender of the Batavian Admiral Jan Willem de Winter. Its full title is The Surrender of the Dutch Admiral de Winter to Admiral Duncan at the Battle of Camperdown.
Edward III Crossing the Somme is a 1788 history painting by the Anglo-American artist Benjamin West. It was one of a series of eight paintings by West depicting the life of the medieval King of England Edward III commissioned by George III to decorate the audience room at Windsor Castle.
The Departure of Regulus is 1769 history painting by the Anglo-American artist Benjamin West. It was one of a number of classical scenes painted by West alongside his better-known depictions of more recent history.
