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Francis Grant (artist)
Encyclopedia
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...
(18 January 1803 – 5 October 1878), was a Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
portrait painter, who painted Queen Victoria and many distinguished British aristocratic and political figures of the day. He served as President of the Royal Academy
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...
.
Life and work
Grant was the fourth son of Francis Grant, laird of Kilgraston, near Bridge of EarnBridge of Earn
Bridge of Earn is a small town in Perthshire, Scotland.Often referred to simply as 'The Brig' by its inhabitants...
, Perthshire
Perth and Kinross
Perth and Kinross is one of 32 council areas in Scotland, and a Lieutenancy Area. It borders onto the Aberdeenshire, Angus, Dundee City, Fife, Clackmannanshire, Stirling, Argyll and Bute and Highland council areas. Perth is the administrative centre...
, and his wife Anne Oliphant of Rossie. Grant was educated at Harrow School
Harrow School
Harrow School, commonly known simply as "Harrow", is an English independent school for boys situated in the town of Harrow, in north-west London.. The school is of worldwide renown. There is some evidence that there has been a school on the site since 1243 but the Harrow School we know today was...
, and inherited a large sum of money on the death of his father in 1818 - a fortune which was apparently "soon spent". He had a passion for fox-hunting and other sports as a young man, and initially intended to become a lawyer. However, he left his studies to take up painting, of which he was mainly self-taught - partly by copying the works of Velasquez and other masters - though he briefly spent time in the studio of Alexander Nasmyth
Alexander Nasmyth
Alexander Nasmyth was a Scottish portrait and landscape painter, often called the "father of Scottish landscape painting".-Biography:...
.
He acquired a reputation as a fine painter of "sporting" subjects, and in 1834 exhibited at the Royal Academy
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...
- a picture called Melton Breakfast (which was engraved by Charles G. Lewis). In 1837 he exhibited 'The Meeting of His Majesty's Staghounds on Ascot Heath,' painted for the Earl of Chesterfield
Earl of Chesterfield
Earls of Chesterfield, in the County of Derby, was a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1628 for Philip Stanhope, 1st Baron Stanhope. He had already been created Baron Stanhope, of Shelford in the County of Nottingham, in 1616, also in the Peerage of England. Stanhope's youngest son...
, and in 1839 'The Melton Hunt,' purchased by the Duke of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...
(both of these have been engraved, the former by F. Bromley, the latter by W. Humphreys).In 1841, he painted 'A Shooting Party at Rawton Abbey' for the Earl of Lichfield
Earl of Lichfield
Earl of Lichfield is a title that has been created three times in British history. Lord Bernard Stewart, youngest son of Esmé Stewart, 1st Duke of Lennox, was to be created Earl of Lichfield by Charles I for his actions at the battles of Newbury and Naseby but died before the creation could...
, and in 1848 'The Cottesmore Hunt' for Sir Richard Sutton. In 1840 Grant exhibited an equestrian group of Queen Victoria riding with Lord Melbourne
William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne
William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, PC, FRS was a British Whig statesman who served as Home Secretary and Prime Minister . He is best known for his intense and successful mentoring of Queen Victoria, at ages 18-21, in the ways of politics...
and others in Windsor Park
Windsor Park
Windsor Park is a football stadium in Belfast, Northern Ireland and the home ground of Linfield F.C. and the Northern Ireland national football team. It is also where the Irish Cup and Irish League Cup finals are played.-History:...
, and at once became the fashionable portrait-painter of the day. His portrait of Lady Glenlyon, exhibited in 1842, increased his reputation, and for nearly forty years the most graceful and refined portraits in the Royal Academy exhibitions came from his studio.
Grant was elected an associate of the Royal Academy, and in 1851 an academician. In 1866, on the death of Charles Eastlake
Charles Lock Eastlake
Sir Charles Lock Eastlake RA was an English painter, gallery director, collector and writer of the early 19th century.-Early life:...
, Edwin Landseer
Edwin Henry Landseer
Sir Edwin Henry Landseer, RA was an English painter, well known for his paintings of animals—particularly horses, dogs and stags...
turned down the seat of Academy President, and Grant was elected instead. He was knighted soon afterwards.
Between 1834 and 1879 he contributed no less than 253 works, many of which were full-length portraits, to the exhibitions of the Royal Academy. Among these works were equestrian portraits of Queen Victoria and the prince consort
Prince Albert
Prince Albert was the husband and consort of Queen Victoria.Prince Albert may also refer to:-Royalty:*Prince Albert Edward or Edward VII of the United Kingdom , son of Albert and Victoria...
, painted for Christ's Hospital; the Prince of Wales; an equestrian group of the Duke and Duchess of Beaufort; Sidney Herbert, afterwards Lord Herbert of Lea; Lord John Russell, afterwards Earl Russell; Benjamin Disraeli, afterwards Earl of Beaconsfield; General Sir James Hope Grant; Sir George Grey; Edward, earl of Derby, first lord of the treasury; Lord Clyde; Viscount Palmerston, painted for Harrow School; Viscount Gough; Lord Truro, lord high chancellor; Sir Frederick Pollock
Sir Frederick Pollock, 1st Baronet
Sir Frederick Pollock, 1st Baronet PC , was a British lawyer and Tory politician.-Background and education:...
, lord chief baron; Sir William Erle
William Erle
Sir William Erle PC QC FRS was an English lawyer, judge and Whig politician.-Early career:Born at Fifehead Magdalen, Dorset, William was the son of the Rev. Christopher Erle of Gillingham, Dorset and Margaret née Bowles, a relative of the poet William Lisle Bowles. His younger brother Peter Erle...
, lord chief justice of the common pleas; John Sumner, archbishop of Canterbury; George Moberly
George Moberly
George Moberly , English divine, was educated at Winchester and Balliol College, Oxford.After a distinguished academic career he became head master of Winchester in 1835. This post he resigned in 1866, and retired to the Rectory of St. Mary's Church, Brighstone, Isle of Wight, he was also a Canon...
, bishop of Salisbury; and John Gibson Lockhart
John Gibson Lockhart
John Gibson Lockhart , was a Scottish writer and editor. He is best known as the author of the definitive "Life" of Sir Walter Scott...
. His portraits of the Marchioness of Waterford, exhibited in 1844, and of Mrs. Markham (aka Daisy Grant - see below), exhibited in 1857, claim notice among those of ladies.
After some years of gradually failing health, Grant died of heart disease very suddenly at his residence, The Lodge, Melton Mowbray
Melton Mowbray
Melton Mowbray is a town in the Melton borough of Leicestershire, England. It is to the northeast of Leicester, and southeast of Nottingham...
, on 5 Oct. 1878, and was interred in the church of England burying-ground in that town, his relatives having declined the usual honour of burial in St. Paul's Cathedral.
Sir Francis was the brother of General Sir James Hope Grant
James Hope Grant
General Sir James Hope Grant GCB , British general, was the fifth and youngest son of Francis Grant of Kilgraston, Perthshire, and brother of Sir Francis Grant, President of the Royal Academy.-Military career:...
, and the father of Anne Emily Sophia Grant (also known as Daisy Grant or Mrs. Colonel William Thomas Markham
William Markham
William Markham may refer to:* William Markham , English scholar and religious figure* William Markham , first acting governor of colonial Pennsylvania* William Markham , Atlanta businessman and mayor...
), whose portrait, by her father, hangs in the National Gallery of Scotland
National Gallery of Scotland
The National Gallery of Scotland, in Edinburgh, is the national art gallery of Scotland. An elaborate neoclassical edifice, it stands on The Mound, between the two sections of Edinburgh's Princes Street Gardens...
, and has been noted for its depiction of Victorian womanhood.
External links
- Francis Grant online (Artcyclopedia)
- Lady Wearing Golden Bracelet (Oil on canvas)
- Biography of Francis Grant (horsehints.org)
- Lady Victoria Leveson-Gower on her pony 'Lady Whitworth' (Richard Green Fine Paintings)
- Portrait of Louisa Madeleine Keith-Falconer (Christie'sChristie'sChristie's is an art business and a fine arts auction house.- History :The official company literature states that founder James Christie conducted the first sale in London, England, on 5 December 1766, and the earliest auction catalogue the company retains is from December 1766...
)