Frederic William Burton
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Sir Frederic William Burton (8 April 1816 in
Wicklow Wicklow ( ; , meaning 'church of the toothless one'; ) is the county town of County Wicklow in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located on the east of Ireland, south of Dublin. According to the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, it had ...
– 16 March 1900 in London) was an Irish
Victorian painter Victorian painting refers to the distinctive styles of painting in the United Kingdom during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901). Victoria's early reign was characterised by rapid industrial development and social and political change, whic ...
and curator who was the third director of the
National Gallery, London The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current dire ...
for 20 years from 1874. Burton's best-known watercolours, ''The Aran Fisherman's Drowned Child'' (1841) and ''
The Meeting on the Turret Stairs ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The' ...
'' (1864; also known as ''Hellelil and Hildebrand'') are in the
National Gallery of Ireland The National Gallery of Ireland () houses the national collection of Irish and European art. It is located in the centre of Dublin with one entrance on Merrion Square, beside Leinster House, and another on Clare Street, Dublin, Clare Street. It ...
. Meeting on the Turret Stairs was voted by the Irish public as Ireland's favourite painting in 2012 from among 10 works shortlisted by critics.


Biography

He was born in
County Wicklow County Wicklow ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606 in Ireland, 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the Provinces ...
and taken by his parents to live in
County Clare County Clare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster in the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern part of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council ...
on the west coast of Ireland at the age of six. He was the third son of Samuel Frederick Burton and his wife, Hanna Mallett. The old Burton seat was Clifden House,
Corofin, County Clare Corofin (Corrofin, County Clare
High Sheriff of Clare The High Sheriff of Clare was a High Sheriff title. Records show that the title was in existence from at least the late 16th century, though it is not used today in the modern Republic of Ireland. The title existed within County Clare in the west ...
in 1799, and his wife, Jane Blood of the nearby townland of Roxton, County Clare.


Artistic career

Educated in
Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
, he was elected an associate of the
Royal Hibernian Academy The Royal Hibernian Academy of Arts (RHA) is an artist-based and artist-oriented institution in Ireland, founded in Dublin in 1823. Like many other Irish institutions, such as the Royal Irish Academy, the academy retained the word "Royal" after mo ...
at age 21, and an academician two years later. In 1842, he began to exhibit at the
Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...
. A visit to Germany and
Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...
in 1842 was the first of a long series of trips to various parts of Europe, which gave him a profound knowledge of the works of the
Old Masters In art history, "Old Master" (or "old master")Old Masters De ...
. From 1851, he spent 7 years working as a painter in the service of Maximilian II of Bavaria. Burton worked with George Petrie on archaeological sketches and was on the council of the
Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the natural sciences, arts, literature, and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned society and one of its le ...
and the Archaeological Society of Ireland. He was elected an associate of the Royal Society of Painters in Watercolours in 1855, and a full member in the following year. He resigned in 1870, and was reelected as an honorary member in 1886. A
knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...
was conferred on him in 1884, and the degree of
LL.D. A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...
of Dublin in 1889. In his youth he had strong sympathy with the
Young Ireland Young Ireland (, ) was a political movement, political and cultural movement, cultural movement in the 1840s committed to an all-Ireland struggle for independence and democratic reform. Grouped around the Dublin weekly ''The Nation (Irish news ...
Party. He died in
Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...
, west London and is buried in
Mount Jerome Cemetery Mount Jerome Cemetery & Crematorium () is situated in Harold's Cross on the south side of Dublin, Ireland. Since its foundation in 1836, it has witnessed over 300,000 burials. Originally an exclusively Protestant cemetery, Roman Catholics have a ...
, Dublin. File:TheAranFishermansChild.jpg, ''The
Aran Aran may refer to: Places Azerbaijan Villages and municipalities: * Aran, Aghjabadi * Aran, Lerik * Aran, Shaki * Aran, Tovuz * Aran, Yevlakh Iran * Aran, Alborz, a village in Alborz Province * Aran, Nain, a village in Isfahan Province * Ar ...
Fisherman's Drowned Child'', 1841, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin File:Fw burton.jpg, ''Dreams'', 1863


Directorship of the National Gallery

In 1874 Burton was appointed director of the
National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current di ...
, London, in succession to Sir
William Boxall Sir William Boxall (29 June 1800 – 6 December 1879) was an English painter and museum director. Early life and education He was born at Oxford on 29 June 1800, and baptised 29 July at St Michael's Church, Oxford, to Thomas Boxall (d. 1847) ...
. In June 1874, he obtained a special grant to acquire the art collection of
Alexander Barker Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are A ...
, which included
Piero della Francesca Piero della Francesca ( , ; ; ; – 12 October 1492) was an Italian Renaissance painter, Italian painter, mathematician and List of geometers, geometer of the Early Renaissance, nowadays chiefly appreciated for his art. His painting is charact ...
's ''Nativity'' and
Botticelli Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi ( – May 17, 1510), better known as Sandro Botticelli ( ; ) or simply known as Botticelli, was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. Botticelli's posthumous reputation suffered until the late 1 ...
's '' Venus and Mars''. In 1876 a bequest of 94 paintings, mainly by Dutch artists but also including works by
Pollaiuolo Pollaiolo or Pollaiuolo is the name of several people, including: * Antonio del Pollaiuolo (1429/1433–1498), Italian Renaissance artist in goldsmithing, sculpture and painting * Piero del Pollaiuolo (1443–1496), Italian Renaissance painter, you ...
, Bouts and
Canaletto Giovanni Antonio Canal (18 October 1697 – 19 April 1768), commonly known as Canaletto (), was an Italian painter from the Republic of Venice, considered an important member of the 18th-century Venetian school. Painter of cityscapes or ...
, was made by the haberdasher
Wynne Ellis Wynne Ellis (also Wynn Ellis) (1790–1875) was a wealthy British haberdasher, politician and art collector. Biography Ellis, son of Thomas Ellis, by Elizabeth Ordway of Barkway, Hertfordshire, was born at Oundle, Northamptonshire, in July 1790 ...
. Also in this year an extension to the Gallery by
E. M. Barry Edward Middleton Barry RA (7 June 1830 – 27 January 1880) was an English architect of the 19th century. Biography Edward Barry was the third son of Sir Charles Barry, born in his father's house, 27 Foley Place, London. In infancy he was ...
was completed. pp. 86–87 During the twenty years that he held this post he was responsible for many important purchases, among them
Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 1452 - 2 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested o ...
's ''
Virgin of the Rocks The ''Virgin of the Rocks'' (), sometimes the ''Madonna of the Rocks'', is the name of two paintings by the Italian Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci, of the same subject, with a composition which is identical except for several significant de ...
'',
Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), now generally known in English as Raphael ( , ), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of paintings by Raphael, His work is admired for its cl ...
's ''Ansidei Madonna'',
Anthony van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (; ; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Flemish Baroque painting, Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Spanish Netherlands and Italy. The seventh child of ...
's ''Equestrian portrait of Charles I'',
Hans Holbein the Younger Hans Holbein the Younger ( , ; ;  – between 7 October and 29 November 1543) was a German-Swiss painter and printmaker who worked in a Northern Renaissance style, and is considered one of the greatest portraitists of the 16th century. He ...
's ''Ambassadors'', and the ''Admiral Pulido Pareja'', by
Diego Velázquez Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez (baptised 6 June 15996 August 1660) was a Spanish painter, the leading artist in the Noble court, court of King Philip IV of Spain, Philip IV of Spain and Portugal, and of the Spanish Golden Age. He i ...
(this subsequently attributed to Velázquez's assistant
Juan Bautista Martínez del Mazo Juan Bautista Martínez del Mazo (c.1612 – February 10, 1667) was a Spanish Baroque portrait and landscape painter, the most distinguished of the followers of his father-in-law Velázquez, whose style he imitated more closely than did any o ...
). He also added to the noted series of Early Italian pictures in the gallery. The number of acquisitions made to the collection during his period of office amounts to more than 500.


Exhibitions

In the National Gallery of Ireland an exhibition of Burton's work ran from 25 October 2017 to 14 January 2018.


Influence

Irish artist Joe Caslin's mural during the 2015 marriage equality campaign in Ireland directly referenced Frederic William Burton’s ''The Meeting on the Turret Stairs'', one of the
National Gallery of Ireland The National Gallery of Ireland () houses the national collection of Irish and European art. It is located in the centre of Dublin with one entrance on Merrion Square, beside Leinster House, and another on Clare Street, Dublin, Clare Street. It ...
’s most celebrated works.


References

*


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Burton, Frederic William 1816 births 1900 deaths British curators Irish curators 19th-century Irish painters Irish male painters Knights Bachelor Burials at Mount Jerome Cemetery and Crematorium Directors of the National Gallery, London Artists from County Clare 19th-century British businesspeople 19th-century Irish male artists People from Corofin, County Clare Artists from County Wicklow