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Charles Catton RA (1728 in
He was a founding member of the
(British History Online).
His son, Charles Catton the younger (1756–1819), who was listed in Royal Academy catalogues as living at his father's house in Gate Street, gained a reputation as a scene-painter and topographical draughtsman. He emigrated to the United States. Among Catton's pupils were John Durand, his own son Charles Catton the younger, his own brother James and William Owen, who became a member of the Royal Academy himself.
A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Volume 3
' p116 (SIU Press, 1975).
(Norwich Castle Museum – 2 Jan 2010)
Charles Catton Senior (1728–1798)
(Norwich Castle Museum – 2 Jan 2010) {{DEFAULTSORT:Catton, Charles 1728 births 1798 deaths 18th-century English painters English male painters English watercolourists Landscape artists Animal artists Artists from Norwich Royal Academicians 18th-century English male artists
Norwich
Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the Episcopal see, See of ...
– 28 August 1798, in London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
), sometimes referred to as Charles Catton the elder, was a notable English coach painter, landscape
A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the ...
, animal and figure painter of the late 18th century, and one of the founder members of the Royal Academy of Arts
The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...
.
Life and work
Catton was born inNorwich
Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the Episcopal see, See of ...
, Norfolk, in 1728, and said to be one of 35 children that his father had from his two marriages. He was apprenticed to a London coach painter, or, according to some sources, a carpenter by the name of Maxwell, and studied drawing at the St. Martin's Lane Academy
The St Martin's Lane Academy, a precursor of the Royal Academy, was organised in 1735 by William Hogarth, from the circle of artists and designers who gathered at Slaughter's Coffee House at the upper end of St Martin's Lane, London. The artistic ...
. He was mainly known as a landscape and animal painter, but also had a good knowledge of the figure, and a talent for humorous design. In 1781, he published an etching called ''The Margate Packet''.
He became a member of the Society of Artists, and exhibited various pictures in its galleries in 1760–1764. He was outstanding as a coach painter, producing ornamental panels for carriages, floral embellishments, and heraldic devices to the highest quality, eventually becoming coach-painter to King George III
George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great B ...
.
He was a founding member of the Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...
, and, in 1784, was master of the Worshipful Company of Painter-Stainers
The Worshipful Company of Painter-Stainers is one of the livery companies of the City of London. An organisation of painters of metals and wood is known to have existed as early as 1283. A similar organisation of stainers, who generally worked ...
. He exhibited at the Academy from its foundation until the year of his death. The works he showed were usually landscapes, but occasionally subject and animal paintings, his last exhibits there being ''Jupiter and Leda'' and ''Child at play''. He painted an altarpiece
An altarpiece is an artwork such as a painting, sculpture or relief representing a religious subject made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting ...
, ''The Angel delivering St. Peter'', for the church of St Peter Mancroft
St Peter Mancroft is a parish church in the Church of England, in the centre of Norwich, Norfolk. After the two cathedrals, it is the largest church in Norwich. It was originally established by the then Earl of East Anglia, Ralph de Gael between ...
in Norwich.
He retired from painting some years before his death. He died at his house in Judd Place, New Road, London, on 28 August 1798, and was buried in Bloomsbury cemetery.Nos 3 and 4 Gate Street(British History Online).
His son, Charles Catton the younger (1756–1819), who was listed in Royal Academy catalogues as living at his father's house in Gate Street, gained a reputation as a scene-painter and topographical draughtsman. He emigrated to the United States. Among Catton's pupils were John Durand, his own son Charles Catton the younger, his own brother James and William Owen, who became a member of the Royal Academy himself.
References
AttributionFurther reading
*Philip H. Highfill, Kalman A. Burnim, Edward A. Langhans.A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Volume 3
' p116 (SIU Press, 1975).
External links
*(Norwich Castle Museum – 2 Jan 2010)
Charles Catton Senior (1728–1798)
(Norwich Castle Museum – 2 Jan 2010) {{DEFAULTSORT:Catton, Charles 1728 births 1798 deaths 18th-century English painters English male painters English watercolourists Landscape artists Animal artists Artists from Norwich Royal Academicians 18th-century English male artists