Sir John Charles Robinson (16 December 1824,

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

– 10 April 1913,

Swanage Swanage () is a coastal town and civil parish in the south east of Dorset, England. It is at the eastern end of the Isle of Purbeck and one of its two towns, approximately south of Poole and east of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester. In the Unit ...

) was an English painter and etcher, although he is now better remembered as an art collector and curator.

Biography

He was raised by his grandfather, who was a bookseller. He originally intended to become an architect, but studied painting instead; primarily with

Michel Martin Drolling Michel Martin Drolling (7 March 1786 – 9 January 1851) was a Neoclassicism, neoclassic French painter noted especially as a History painting, painter of history and portraitist. Biography He was born in Paris. There, he began painting under th ...

in Paris. While there, he also copied paintings in the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

and acquired a knowledge of

Renaissance art Renaissance art (1350 – 1620) is the painting, sculpture, and decorative arts of the period of European history known as the Renaissance, which emerged as a distinct style in Italy in about AD 1400, in parallel with developments which occurr ...

.Biography
@ the

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in ...

. He returned to England in 1847 and became a teacher at the School of Design at

Hanley, Staffordshire Hanley is one of the six towns that, along with Burslem, Longton, Fenton, Tunstall and Stoke-upon-Trent, amalgamated to form the City of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. The town is the main business, commercial and cultural hub o ...

. He was later appointed

Headmaster A headmaster/headmistress, head teacher, head, school administrator, principal or school director (sometimes another title is used) is the staff member of a school with the greatest responsibility for the management of the school. Role While s ...

.Biography
from '' Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851–1951'' @ the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

. In 1852, he went to London to become a teacher's training master and marry Elizabeth Newton, daughter of Edmond Newton, an

Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

. That position lasted for only a short time, however, as he received an appointment as curator of the Museum of Ornamental Art at

Marlborough House Marlborough House, a Grade I listed mansion on The Mall in St James's, City of Westminster, London, is the headquarters of the Commonwealth of Nations and the seat of the Commonwealth Secretariat. It is adjacent to St James's Palace. The ...

. In 1857, the collection was moved to the new South Kensington Museum (now the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

). He served as curator there until 1863, when his position was changed to that of "Art Referee". He is particularly known for increasing the museum's collection of

Italian Renaissance sculpture Italian Renaissance sculpture was an important part of the art of the Italian Renaissance, in the early stages arguably representing the leading edge. The example of Ancient Roman sculpture hung very heavily over it, both in terms of style and t ...

; including pieces acquired from the Campana collection. He also arranged travelling exhibitions for provincial institutions. In 1856, he had created a collector's club which became the unofficial "Fine Arts Club" after the museum's opening. In 1866, it merged with the newly formed Burlington Fine Arts Club and Robinson served as its first President. He was an important figure in the Brirish

Etching Revival The etching revival was the re-emergence and invigoration of etching as an original form of printmaking during the period approximately from 1850 to 1930. The main centres were France, Britain and the United States, but other countries, such as t ...

, and with Sir Francis Seymour Haden he helped to create the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers, now known as the

Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers The Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers (RE), known until 1991 as the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers, is a leading art institution based in London, England. The Royal Society of Painter-Etchers, as it was originally styled, was ...

. He resigned from the museum in 1869; becoming an advisor to private collectors, such as Sir Francis Cook. His own collection included the usual paintings, drawings, and sketches, but also contained Greek gems, Renaissance jewellery, Oriental porcelain, French furniture, Spanish and Italian embroideries, and ancient Coptic fabrics. In terms of his own work, he was most admired for his etchings and

drypoint Drypoint is a printmaking technique of the intaglio (printmaking), intaglio family, in which an image is incised into a plate (or "matrix") with a hard-pointed "needle" of sharp metal or diamond point. In principle, the method is practically iden ...

s, which may be seen at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. From 1880 to 1901 he held the position of

Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures The office of the Surveyor of the King's/Queen's Pictures, in the Royal Collection Department of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom, is responsible for the care and maintenance of the royal collection of pictures owned by ...

. He was knighted in 1887 and named a CB in 1901. Although he wrote no books, he was a fierce and passionate critic and contributed many articles to ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', ''

The Nineteenth Century ''The Nineteenth Century'' was a British monthly literary magazine founded in 1877 by James Knowles. It is regarded by historians as 'one of the most important and distinguished monthlies of serious thought in the last quarter of the nineteent ...

'', and other noted journals. He also produced a

catalogue raisonné A (or critical catalogue) is an annotated listing of the works of an artist or group of artists and can contain all works or a selection of works categorised by different parameters such as medium or period. A ''catalogue raisonné'' is normal ...

of the drawings of

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6March 147518February 1564), known mononymously as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was inspir ...

and

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 ...

. After his wife died in 1908, he left London to live at his home in Swanage, where he died five years later.

Paintings by John Charles Robinson

John Charles Robinson - Camellias c.1850.jpg, ''

Camellia ''Camellia'' (pronounced or ) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae. They are found in tropical and subtropical areas in East Asia, eastern and South Asia, southern Asia, from the Himalayas east to Japan and Indonesia. There are ...

s'', c.1850 Robinson-Flowers.jpg, ''Wildflowers with Bird's Nest'' John Charles Robinson - Still Life with Fruit. 1861.jpg, ''

Still Life A still life (: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, human-m ...

with Fruit'', 1861

Etchings by John Charles Robinson

John Charles Robinson - ULWELD MILL SWANAGE.1871.jpg, ''Ulwell Mill,

'', 1871 N02443 10.jpg, ''Newton Manor, Swanage'' John Charles Robinson - Nine Barrow Down. 1872.jpg,

Nine Barrow Down Nine Barrow Down is an elongated hill forming the northern ridge of the Purbeck Hills on the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset, England. The chalk down is part of the extensive Southern England Chalk Formation. The eastern end of the ridge, which carrie ...

Isle of Purbeck The Isle of Purbeck is a peninsula in Dorset, England. It is bordered by water on three sides: the English Channel to the south and east, where steep cliffs fall to the sea; and by the marshy lands of the River Frome, Dorset, River Frome and Poo ...

, looking towards St. Alban's Head, 1872 Sir John Charles Robinson - Beja in the Alentejo.jpg, Beja in the

Alentejo Alentejo ( , , ) is a geographical, historical, and cultural region of south–central and southern Portugal. In Portuguese, its name means "beyond the Tagus" (). Alentejo includes the regions of Alto Alentejo Province, Alto Alentejo and Bai ...

, 1872 Sir John Charles Robinson - Space and Light, Sierra de Almaden, Estremadura.jpg, ''Space and Light, Sierra de Almaden, Estremadura'', c. 1872 Robinson-rain.jpg, ''October Rain: Posuclos in the Guardarramas, Near

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

'' Robinson-castle.jpg, ''

Corfe Castle Corfe Castle is a fortification standing above the Corfe Castle (village), village of the same name on the Isle of Purbeck peninsula in the English county of Dorset. Built by William the Conqueror, the castle dates to the 11th century and ...

– Effect of Sunshine After Rain'', 1878 Sir John Charles Robinson - Landscape with trees and sun.jpg, ''Landscape with trees and sun'' Sir John Charles Robinson - Swanage down.jpg, ''Swanage down'', с. 1890

References

External links

"The colourful career of Sir John Charles Robinson: collecting and curating at the early South Kensington Museum"
by Charlotte Drew

from ''

The Times of London ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fo ...

'' @ Jardim Formoso (blog) {{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, John Charles 1824 births 1913 deaths English painters English etchers English curators English art collectors Artists from Nottingham

Biography

Paintings by John Charles Robinson

Etchings by John Charles Robinson

References

Further reading

External links