William Valentine was a portrait painter and

daguerreotypist Daguerreotype (; french: daguerréotype) was the first publicly available photographic process; it was widely used during the 1840s and 1850s. "Daguerreotype" also refers to an image created through this process. Invented by Louis Daguerre an ...

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. The ...

Life

Born in 1798 in

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and port on the English north west coast and near to the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies by road south-west of Carlisle and to the north of Barrow-in-Furness. It is th ...

, England, he migrated to Halifax in 1818. In 1822 he married Susannah Smith there, with whom he had two daughters. He married again in 1830 to Sarah Sellon. He died on December 26 in 1849 and was buried at

Camp Hill Cemetery Camp Hill Cemetery is a cemetery within Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is located on Camp Hill, adjacent to Robie Street. History In 1844, Camp Hill succeeded the city's first cemetery, the Old Burying Ground, which had been established alm ...

, Halifax.

Career

From 1819 he worked as a portrait painter, teacher, and painter of signs and architectural ornaments. He filled a void left by portrait painter Robert Field who had practiced in Halifax from 1808 to 1816. Valentine studied painting in England in 1836, after which his work visibly improved. In 1839 he travelled to Paris where he learned the

Daguerreotype Daguerreotype (; french: daguerréotype) was the first publicly available photographic process; it was widely used during the 1840s and 1850s. "Daguerreotype" also refers to an image created through this process. Invented by Louis Daguerre an ...

process, an early form of photography, of which he was a pioneer in Canada as early as 1842. Valentine was a mentor and later a business partner of the photographer Thomas Coffin Doane. In the 1830s and '40s he apparently worked in various places in

Atlantic Canada Atlantic Canada, also called the Atlantic provinces (french: provinces de l'Atlantique), is the region of Eastern Canada comprising the provinces located on the Atlantic coast, excluding Quebec. The four provinces are New Brunswick, Newfoundlan ...

, as evidenced by advertisements placed in

Charlottetown Charlottetown is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County. Named after Queen Charlotte, Charlottetown was an unincorporated town until it was incorporated as a city in ...

, Saint John, and St. John's.

Works

His main interest was in portraits, of which he painted about 125-150. The included many notaries of the day, including

Thomas Chandler Haliburton Thomas Chandler Haliburton (17 December 1796 – 27 August 1865) was a Nova Scotian politician, judge, and author. He made an important political contribution to the state of Nova Scotia before its entry into Confederation of Canada. He was the ...

, Alexander Keith and William Black. Although some paintings were destroyed in a studio fire shortly before his death, many of his works are preserved at the

National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (french: Musée des beaux-arts du Canada), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the l ...

, the

Library and Archives Canada Library and Archives Canada (LAC; french: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada) is the federal institution, tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is th ...

, the

New Brunswick Museum The New Brunswick Museum, located in Saint John, New Brunswick, is Canada's oldest continuing museum. The New Brunswick Museum was incorporated as the "Provincial Museum" in 1929 and received its current name in 1930, but its history goes back muc ...

, and the

Art Gallery of Nova Scotia The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia (AGNS) is a public provincial art museum based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The art museum's primary building complex is located in downtown Halifax and takes up approximately of space. The museum complex compr ...

Gallery

File:John William Ritchie by William Valentine.png,

John William Ritchie John William Ritchie (26 March 1808 – 13 or 18 December 1890) was a Canadians, Canadian lawyer and politician from Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia who is one of the Father of Confederation#Fathers of Confederation, Fat ...

Image:1825cJohnHowe.jpg,

John Howe (loyalist) John Howe (October 14, 1754 – December 27, 1835) was a loyalist printer during the American Revolution, a printer and Postmaster in Halifax, a spy prior to the War of 1812, and the father of Joseph Howe a Magistrate of the Colony of Nova Sco ...

Image:William black.jpg, Rev William Black (Methodist)

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valentine, William English portrait painters Canadian portrait painters 1798 births 1849 deaths Artists from Nova Scotia 19th-century Canadian painters Canadian male painters People from Whitehaven People from Halifax, Nova Scotia 19th-century Canadian male artists