John Inigo Richards from The Portraits of the Academicians of the Royal Academy

John Inigo Richards (1731– 18 December 1810) was a British landscapist who became one of the founding members 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 ...

in 1768, and was secretary to the Academy from 1788 until his death.

Life

John Inigo Richards - Corfe Castle, Dorset - Google Art Project

He studied art at the St Martin's Lane Academy 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 ...

, where he was a pupil of George Lambert (1700–1765), sometimes regarded as the "Father of English Landscape Oil Painting". Like his contemporary

Francis Hayman Francis Hayman (1708 – 2 February 1776) was an English painter and illustrator who became one of the founding members of the Royal Academy in 1768, and later its first librarian. Life and works Born in Exeter, Devon, Hayman begun his arti ...

, Richards worked as a scene painter in London's theatres (1777–1803). He retained a lifelong interest in theatre design. He is credited with the design of the

Chestnut Street Theatre The Chestnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was the first theater in the United States built by entrepreneurs solely as a venue for paying audiences.The Chestnut Street Theatre Project The New Theatre (First Chestnut Street Theatre) ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

. (

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

's first purpose-built professional theatre, opening in 1793), built for his brother-in-law Thomas Wignell. When Richards died in 1810 he acknowledged that Mary Ann Ritchards who had been born to the actress

Ann Pitt Ann Pitt (1718 – 18 December 1799) was a British actress. Life Pitt was born in 1718 to Elizabeth. Her father, John, was a warden for London Bridge and he sold fish. Her brother, Cecil, became rich dealing in dry goods whereas Ann's career led ...

in 1759 was his daughter. He left her a snuff box which was decorated with a picture of her mother and his former lover.Dwayne Brenna, ‘Pitt, Ann (c.1720–1799)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 201
accessed 9 Feb 2015
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References

;Attribution

External links

*

(ArtCyclopedia)
Paintings by J. I. Richards
(Tate Collection, London)

(Royal Academy Collections, London)
Figures outside a cottage
(Watercolour, 1800 -

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is owned by Groupe Artémi ...

)
Portrait of Richards
(National Portrait Gallery, London) {{DEFAULTSORT:Richards, John Inigo 1731 births 1810 deaths 18th-century British painters English male painters 19th-century British painters English watercolourists Royal Academicians Landscape artists