Octavius Oakley RWS

Royal Watercolour Society

The Royal Watercolour Society is an English institution of painters working in watercolours...

 (27 April 1800 Bermondsey

Bermondsey

Bermondsey is an area in London on the south bank of the river Thames, and is part of the London Borough of Southwark. To the west lies Southwark, to the east Rotherhithe, and to the south, Walworth and Peckham.-Toponomy:...

 - 1 March 1867 London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

), was an English watercolour portrait, figure and landscape artist.

Oakley worked for a Leeds

Leeds

Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...

 textile company. He developed into a specialist of portraits in watercolour and was given commissions by the Duke of Devonshire

William Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire

William George Spencer Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire KG, PC , styled Marquess of Hartington until 1811, was a British peer, courtier and Whig politician...

. Whilst living in Derby

Derby

Derby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407...

 where he painted rustic scenes until he moved to Leamington Spa

Leamington Spa

Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or Leamington or Leam to locals, is a spa town in central Warwickshire, England. Formerly known as Leamington Priors, its expansion began following the popularisation of the medicinal qualities of its water by Dr Kerr in 1784, and by Dr Lambe...

 in Warwickshire

Warwickshire

Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...

 in 1836, but returned to London in the 1840s and worked there until his death, producing paintings of street scenes and gypsies and their lifestyle.
His emphasis on gypsy paintings which he exhibited at the Royal Watercolour Society

Royal Watercolour Society

The Royal Watercolour Society is an English institution of painters working in watercolours...

 earned him the name 'Gypsy Oakley'.

Oakley met Thomas Baker

Thomas Baker (artist)

Thomas Baker was a Midlands landscape painter and watercolourist often known as "Baker of Leamington" or "Landscape Baker"....

 in Leamington Spa where Baker was living and working and in 1841 did a portrait of the celebrated painter, who was an important figure in the Midlands

English Midlands

The Midlands, or the English Midlands, is the traditional name for the area comprising central England that broadly corresponds to the early medieval Kingdom of Mercia. It borders Southern England, Northern England, East Anglia and Wales. Its largest city is Birmingham, and it was an important...

 and Birmingham

Birmingham

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

 art world.

External links

• Portraits by A. Oakley (National Portrait Gallery)
• Portrait of Benjamin Gibbons Seated, with a view of Eton College Beyond (Victorian web)