Posts in Category: 18th Century

Sir Henry Raeburn

On February 28, 2026 - 18th Century, 19th Century, march 4, Scottish

Sir Henry Raeburn, Scottish painter, March 4, 1756 – July 8, 1823

Henry Fuseli

On January 11, 2026 - 18th Century, 19th Century, English, february 7

Henry Fuseli, Swiss-English Artist, February 7, 1741 - April 17, 1825

Franz Xaver Messerschmidt

On January 10, 2026 - 18th Century, Austrian, february 6

Franz Xaver Messerschmidt, Austrian sculptor, February 6, 1736 – August 19, 1783

Alessandro Magnasco

On January 10, 2026 - 17th Century, 18th Century, february 4, Italian

Alessandro Magnasco, Italian painter, February 4, 1667 - March 12, 1749

George Romney

On December 26, 2025 - 18th Century, december 26, English

George Romney, December 26, 1734–November 15, 1802, was an English painter best known for portraits. Born at Beckside near Dalton-in-Furness, Lancashire, he was apprenticed to the portrait painter Christopher Steele in Kendal before moving to London in 1762.

Romney won early recognition from the Society of Arts and studied in Italy from 1773 to 1775. After returning to London, he became one of the leading portraitists of his generation; Emma Hart, later Lady Hamilton, was his most celebrated model.

Although he was a contemporary and rival of Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Gainsborough, Romney never joined the Royal Academy. Ill health led him back to Kendal in 1799, where his wife Mary cared for him until his death in 1802.

John Crome

On December 12, 2025 - 18th Century, 19th Century, december 22, English

John Crome, December 22, 1768–April 22, 1821, was an English landscape painter and etcher born in Norwich. Apprenticed to the coach and sign painter Francis Whisler, he later worked as a drawing master and studied the work of Dutch landscape painters.

Crome and Robert Ladbrooke founded the Norwich Society of Artists in 1803. He served repeatedly as its president, taught artists including James Stark and Edward Thomas Daniell, and painted landscapes centered on Norwich and the Norfolk countryside.

Crome remained in Norwich until his death in 1821. His work is held by Tate, the Yale Center for British Art, the National Galleries of Scotland, Norfolk Museums Collections and other British and American collections, and he is regarded as a principal founder of the Norwich School of painters.

Luis Egidio Meléndez

On November 26, 2025 - 18th Century, Spanish

Luis Egidio Meléndez, Spanish painter, 1716–1780

William Daniell

On November 1, 2025 - 18th Century, 19th Century, English

William Daniell was born in Kingston upon Thames in 1769 and trained under his uncle, Thomas Daniell. As a teenager he accompanied Thomas to India, where the pair traveled widely and recorded architecture, landscapes, and everyday life in drawings and paintings.

After returning to Britain in 1794, the Daniells transformed their Indian studies into Oriental Scenery, issued in six parts from 1795 to 1808. William became a highly accomplished aquatinter as well as a landscape and marine painter, combining topographical precision with dramatic atmosphere.

Daniell later traveled around the British coast for A Voyage Round Great Britain, published in eight volumes from 1814 to 1825 with 308 aquatints. Elected a Royal Academician in 1822, he continued exhibiting marine, Indian, and panoramic subjects until his death in London on August 16, 1837.

Meindert Hobbema

On October 17, 2025 - 17th Century, 18th Century, Dutch, october 31

Meindert Hobbema, October 31, 1638 – December 7, 1709, was a Dutch landscape painter born and active in Amsterdam. Orphaned as a teenager, he became a pupil of Jacob van Ruisdael by 1655.

Hobbema specialized in wooded landscapes, watermills, cottages, roads, and streams. Most of his surviving paintings date from the late 1650s and 1660s, and his figures were sometimes supplied by other artists, including Adriaen van de Velde.

In 1668 Hobbema married and became a municipal wine gauger, after which his artistic production declined. He died in Amsterdam and is represented in collections including the Rijksmuseum, National Gallery, National Gallery of Art, Mauritshuis, and Frick Collection.

William Hodges

On October 16, 2025 - 18th Century, English, october 28

William Hodges, October 28, 1744 – March 6, 1797, was an English landscape painter and printmaker born in London. He trained at William Shipley’s drawing school and became a pupil and assistant of the landscape painter Richard Wilson.

Hodges accompanied Captain James Cook’s second Pacific voyage aboard Resolution from 1772 to 1775 as expedition artist. He later worked in India under the patronage of Warren Hastings, published Select Views in India, and was elected a Royal Academician in 1787.

After further travel in Europe, Hodges continued to exhibit at the Royal Academy until 1794 and retired from painting in 1795. He died at Brixham, Devon, in 1797; important holdings of his work are in the National Maritime Museum, British Museum, and Yale Center for British Art.