Page:Dictionary of Artists of the English School (1878).djvu/487



He made a series of designs for an edition of Milton, for Alderman Boydell, and painted five subjects for the Shakespeare Gallery. His illustrations for the Bible and Prayer-Book were suited to the public taste, and were very popular. He designed also for the 'History of England,' Crabbe's 'Tales,' Moore's 'Loves of the Angels,' 'The Arabian Nights' Entertainments,' and numerous other publications, and by these works he made money and acquired a competence. In 1813 the directors of the British Institution purchased for 450 guineas his 'Elijah restoring the Widow's Son to Life.' His large pictures in oil did not, however, find purchasers, and are now little known. One, his 'Christ crowned with Thorns,' is placed over the altar at All Souls, Langham Place. In 1792 he was elected an associate, and in 1794, a full member of the Royal Academy. Later in his career he engaged in some unfortunate speculations in pictures by the old masters. The artist-dealer was led into improvident purchases, ending in pecuniary embarrassment. His means were dissipated, and he became the pensioner of the Academy. His last employment was in giving drawing lessons to the Princess Victoria. He died December 4, 1836, aged 71.

He will be best known as a book-illustrator and painter in water-colours, and claims to be ranked among the founders of the new art. His works are marked with great sameness and prettiness, both in colour and design, and are effeminate and wanting in character. He succeeded best in subjects admitting a decorative treatment. Some of his little rural scenes are among his best works. He painted some good small whole-length portraits in water-colours. He published in 1808 a volume of poems with his own illustrations, 'A Day in Spring.'

WESTALL,, A.R.A., landscape painter, brother to the above, was born at Hertford, October 12, 1781. He studied under his brother and in the schools of the Royal Academy. He had a great talent for drawing, and at the age of 19 was selected for appointment in 1801 as draftsman to Captain Flinder's [sic] Voyage of Australian Discovery. After nearly two years' employment in this duty, he was wrecked on the north coast, was picked up by a ship bound for China; here he remained several months, visited the interior of the country, and made many interesting sketches. From thence he secured a passage to India, and on landing at Bombay made an excursion into the neighbouring mountains of the Mahratta country, and to the excavated temples of Kurlee and Elephanta. He returned to England after about four years' absence. Finding his services were not immediately required in connexion with the publication of Captain Flinder's voyage, he set off for Madeira, where by great exertions he made a number of sketches, which were all lost, and he was nearly drowned, by the upsetting of the boat on leaving the island. But he prosecuted his journey to the West India Islands, and was so charmed with the scenery that in 1805 he again visited Madeira, and made a large collection of drawings, and on his return to England painted many views of foreign scenery. From 1805 he was a frequent contributor to the Academy exhibitions.

In 1810 he was engaged upon the drawings to illustrate his Australian voyage, and he painted several pictures on commissions from the Admiralty, some of which were exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1812. His works had hitherto been chiefly in water-colours, and in 1811 he was admitted an associate exhibitor of the Water-Colour Society, and in the following year a member, but appears to have resigned, as the same year he was elected an associate of the Royal Academy. He exhibited some landscapes in oil, but they were not much esteemed. His principal employment was upon illustrated publications, mostly landscape views, which he rendered with great fidelity and skill. The chief of these works are 'Views of Scenery in Madeira, the Cape, China, and India,' 1811; ' Views of the Yorkshire Caves,' 1818; 'Britannia Delineata,' and, jointly with Samuel Owen, 'A Picturesque Tour on the River Thames.' He died from the effects of an accident, at North Bank, St John's Wood, January 22, 1850, aged 68.

WESTMACOTT, Sir, Knt, R.A. sculptor. Was the son of a statuary in Mount Street, Grosvenor Square, and was born in London in 1775. Brought up with his father, he imbibed an early taste for art, and was sent to Italy in his 18th year, arriving at Rome in January, 1793. He was furnished with good introductions, made rapid progress, and gained the gold medal for sculpture in the Academy of St. Luke, and removing to Florence, the premium of the first class in sculpture in the Academy there. He afterwards received the Pope's medal at Rome. In 1797 Italy was alarmed by the advance of the French army upon Rome, and he travelled homewards by Bologna to Venice, crossed the Adriatic to visit the German galleries, and reached London at the close of the year. He first exhibited at the Academy in 1797, and from that year exhibited monumental figures and groups, with an occasional bust. Steadily pursuing his art, his first