Page:Dictionary of Artists of the English School (1878).djvu/224

 HAY

HAY

ability and great enthusiasm, and disliking bookselling, his father at last consented that he might come op to London to study as a painter, and in May ISO* he entered as a student at the Royal Academy. H is aims were high art, his views inflated, his nature self-willed and obstinate. In 1^07 he exhibited his first picture, ' Joseph and Mary.' Then visiting Plymouth for a time, he made a purse by painting portraits among his Mends.

Returning to London, he gained permis- sion, which he used most vigorously, to study from the Elgin Marbles, and inspired by those great works, produced his ' Ben- tatus,' a commission from Lord Mulgrave. He believed that his picture was to produce a new era in art, and the place assigned to it in the Exhibition of 1809, with the sub- sequent rejection of his works, led to his quarrel in 1812 with the Academy. In 1810 he began his ' Lady Macbeth,' a commission from Sir George Beaumont, which he for- feited ; and irritated, in debt, and refused further assistance by his family, he was plunged into difficulties, when he was partially relieved by a prize of 100 guineas awarded to him for his ' Dentatus ' by the British Institution, and he commenced his ' Judgment of Solomon,' which he finished under great privations, and sold for 700 guineas, the Institution again awarding him 100 guineas for this work.

He now (1814) paid a visit to Paris, to study the great works in the Louvre. No commissions awaited him on his return ; but not cooled in his enthusiasm, he com- menced his great picture, ' Christ's Entry into Jerusalem/ to which he earnestly devoted himself, but was compelled to solicit assistance to enable him, under great pri- vations, to continue his work. He had, in 1817, established a painting school at his residence in Lisson Grove, and had several pupils who rose to eminence. Resolutely presuming on the sensation created by his works, his ambition was to obtain distinction as a great historical painter ; but he failed to gain the appreciation of the public. His 'Christ's Entry into Jerusalem' was completed in 1820, and its exhibition, at the Egyptian Hall, Piccadilly, produced him 1,7001. Though the picture did not find a purchaser, he at once commenced another great work, 'The raising of Lazarus/ comprising 20 figures, on a scale 9 feet high. This picture was exhibited in 1823, and attracted considerable attention. The composition is imposing, the incidents and grouping well conceived, the effect of colour good, in some parts excellent; but he had been arrested for debt during its progress, and the money received from day to day for its exhibition barely supplied each day's wants.

I produced his greatest works under painful difficulties, and the future offered no better prospect. In lyjtf he finished his * Venus I appearing to Anchises,' followed by ' Alex- ander taming Bucephalus' and 'Kudus/ the latter a very gin«d, pleading work. But his difficulties again overcame him. He was thrown into a debtors' prison, and he appealed to the public for help. He said, 'My "Judgment of Solomon'* is rolled up in a warehouse in the Borough ; my " Entry into Jerusalem," once graced by Uie enthu- siasm of the rank and beauty of the three kingdoms, is doubled up in a back room in Holborn ; my " Lazarus " is in an uphol- sterer's shop in Mount Street ; ana my " Crucifixion " in a hay-loft in Lisson Grove.* His appeal produced a subscription which restored him to lus art and Ids family. He commenced portrait painting, for which he was ill-suited both in art and character, and was reduced almost to actual want; and he painted his ' Mock Election ' from a burlesque scene widen occurred in the prison ; and then, as a companion picture, his ' Chairing the Member.'
 * He was not ret 40 years old. He had

He had grown apathetic, his enthusiasm was damped, his misfortunes beginning to tell upon mm, when the King purchased bis ' Mock Election ; ' and the exlubition of that and the companion picture produced him a good sum ; nevertheless he was, in 1830, a second time in prison for debt. On his release the excitement of the Reform Bill prevailed, and he fell in with thepublic feeling by painting * Waiting for the Times,' and then ' The Reform Banquet/ a large

?ortrait subject, a commission by Earl Grey, n 1835 his difficulties seem to have cul- minated ; and in the following year he was, for the third time, a prisoner. He was assisted by the proceeds of a raffle for his 'Zenophon,' ana took a prominent part before the committee upon the Royal Aca- demy, of which Institution he was a bitter opponent. About the same time he com- menced a series of lectures on art, and for the next two or three years by this means gained some help for the maintenance of his family.

He had been long a claimant for State patronage ; and, as a means, had persist- ently advocated the decoration of our public buildings. When, therefore, a royal com- mission was issued for the decoration of the Houses of Parliament, he dreamt that his plans would be realised ; and he eagerly entered into the cartoon competition in 1842. But he was doomed to disappoint- ment, and as one young artist after another received some employment, and he was passed by, his spirits sank. He struggled to complete six designs for the House of Lords, as a sort of appeal ; but the effort was too much for him ; his mind gave way,

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