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Marmaduke Cradock (1660 – 24 March 1716) was an English painter of birds and animals. Some older sourcesIncluding Bryan and Walpole give his first name as Luke.
Cradock was an English painter, noted for his depictions of birds, dead game, and other animals. He was born in Somerton,
Life
Cradock was an English painter, noted for his depictions of birds, dead game, and other animals. He was born in Somerton, Somerset
( en, All The People of Somerset)
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, region = South West England
, established_date = Ancient
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, lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset
, lor ...
and moved to 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 served an apprenticeship to a house-painter. He was, however, self-taught as an artist, becoming skilled in the depiction of birds and animals. Horace Walpole
Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whig politician.
He had Strawberry Hill House built in Twi ...
wrote that "I have seen some pieces by his hand which he painted with a freedom and a fire that entitled them to more distinction".
According to Walpole, Cradock deliberately shunned aristocratic patronage.He worked in general by the day, and for dealers who retailed his works; possessing that conscious dignity of talent which made him hate to be employed by men whose birth and fortune confined his fancy, and restrained his freedom.
Work
According to the RKD his work as a still life and bird painter was influenced byMelchior d'Hondecoeter
Melchior d'Hondecoeter (; 1636 – 3 April 1695), Dutch animalier painter, was born in Utrecht and died in Amsterdam. After the start of his career, he painted virtually exclusively bird subjects, usually exotic or game, in park-like landsc ...
, Peter Frans Casteels
Peter Frans Casteels(c. 1675–1679 or after) was a Flemish painter, who was active in Antwerp. He is mainly known for his flower still lifes.Jakob Bogdani.Marmaduke Cradock
in the RKD Sketches in the collection of the British Museum indicate that he based at least some of the birds in his paintings on drawings from life. He tended to paint domestic birds and common wild species, rather than the exotic varieties favoured by some other artists. He sometimes introduced elements of drama such as attacks by predatory animals into his bird paintings, a feature shared with the works of Francis Barlow. Buyers of his paintings often incorporated them into schemes of interior decoration, setting them into panelling above doors or fireplaces. His ''Peacock and Other Birds in a Landscape'' is in the collection of the
in the RKD Sketches in the collection of the British Museum indicate that he based at least some of the birds in his paintings on drawings from life. He tended to paint domestic birds and common wild species, rather than the exotic varieties favoured by some other artists. He sometimes introduced elements of drama such as attacks by predatory animals into his bird paintings, a feature shared with the works of Francis Barlow. Buyers of his paintings often incorporated them into schemes of interior decoration, setting them into panelling above doors or fireplaces. His ''Peacock and Other Birds in a Landscape'' is in the collection of the
Tate Gallery
Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...
. It is only one of three known signed works by him.
Death
He died in London in 1716, and was buried at St Mary, Whitechapel. Soon afterwards some of his works were sold at three or four times the price he had received for them in his lifetime.References
Sources
*External links
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cradock, Marmaduke 1660 births 1716 deaths 17th-century English painters English male painters 18th-century English painters People from Somerton, Somerset British bird artists 18th-century English male artists