Ozias Humphry (or Humphrey) (8 September 1742 – 9 March 1810) was a leading English painter of

portrait miniature A portrait miniature is a miniature portrait painting from Renaissance art, usually executed in gouache, Watercolor painting, watercolor, or Vitreous enamel, enamel. Portrait miniatures developed out of the techniques of the miniatures in illumin ...

s, later oils and

pastel A pastel () is an art medium that consists of powdered pigment and a binder (material), binder. It can exist in a variety of forms, including a stick, a square, a pebble, and a pan of color, among other forms. The pigments used in pastels are ...

s, of the 18th century. He was elected to 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 ...

in 1791, and in 1792 he was appointed ''Portrait Painter in Crayons to the King'' (i.e. pastels).

Name

''Humphry'' is the spelling Ozias himself used in his

signature A signature (; from , "to sign") is a depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. Signatures are often, but not always, Handwriting, handwritt ...

on the backing card of his miniature of ''

Charlotte, Princess Royal Charlotte, Princess Royal (Charlotte Augusta Matilda; 29 September 1766 – 6 October 1828), was Queen of Württemberg as the wife of King Frederick I. She was the eldest daughter and fourth child of George III of the United Kingdom and his wi ...

'' (1769;

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a List of British royal residences, royal residence at Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, about west of central London. It is strongly associated with the Kingdom of England, English and succee ...

). This is also the spelling given in the catalogues of the annual

exhibition An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibiti ...

s of the

from 1779 to 1795.see Algernon Graves, ''The Royal Academy of Arts. A complete dictionary of contributors and their work from its foundation in 1769 to 1904'', vol. IV, London 1906,

s.v. SV, Sv, sv, etc. may refer to: Places and language * El Salvador, ISO 3166-1 country code SV * Province of Savona, (vehicle registration plate code), Italy * South Vietnam, an extinct state * Svalbard, Norway, FIPS country code SV * Swedish langu ...

Humphry, Ozias, R.A. The different spelling in the far more common form of ''Humphrey'' may originally well be due to a mistake but was already in use during his own lifetime. It appears thus in the Royal Academy catalogues for the years 1796 and 1797 as well as in the writings of

Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford (; 24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English Whig politician, writer, historian and antiquarian. He had Strawberry Hill House built in Twickenham, southwest London ...

and John Thomas Smith. Humphry is the generally used spelling today. Princess Charlotte in 1769

Education

Born and schooled in

Honiton Honiton () is a market town and civil parish in East Devon, situated close to the River Otter, Devon, River Otter, north east of Exeter in the county of Devon. Honiton has a population estimated at 12,154 (based on 2021 census). History The ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, Humphry was attracted by the gallery of casts opened by the

Duke of Richmond Duke of Richmond is a title in the Peerage of England that has been created four times in British history. It has been held by members of the royal Tudor and Stuart families. The current dukedom of Richmond was created in 1675 for Charles ...

and came to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

to study art at Shipley's school. He also studied art in

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

(under Samuel Collins, taking over his practice in 1762); in Bath, he lodged with Thomas Linley. As a young artist, he found his talent encouraged by

Thomas Gainsborough Thomas Gainsborough (; 14 May 1727 (baptised) – 2 August 1788) was an English portrait and landscape painter, draughtsman, and printmaker. Along with his rival Sir Joshua Reynolds, he is considered one of the most important British artists o ...

and Sir

Joshua Reynolds Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter who specialised in portraits. The art critic John Russell (art critic), John Russell called him one of the major European painters of the 18th century, while Lucy P ...

, among others. His problems with his sight, which ultimately led to blindness, began in the early 1770s and forced him to paint larger works in oils and pastel.

Italy

He traveled to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

in 1773 with his great friend George Romney, stopping en route at

Knole Knole () is a British English country house, country house and former Archbishop, archbishop's palace owned by the National Trust. It is situated within Knole Park, a park located immediately to the south-east of Sevenoaks in west Kent. The h ...

, near

Sevenoaks Sevenoaks is a town in Kent with a population of 29,506, situated south-east of London, England. Also classified as a civil parishes in England, civil parish, Sevenoaks is served by a commuter South Eastern Main Line, main line railway into Lo ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, where the

Duke of Dorset Duke of Dorset was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1720 for the politician Lionel Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset, Lionel Sackville, 7th Earl of Dorset. History The Sackville family descended from Richard Sackville (es ...

commissioned several works from him. His stay in Italy lasted until 1777. On his return, his numerous subjects included

George Stubbs George Stubbs (25 August 1724 – 10 July 1806) was an English painter, best known for his paintings of horses. Self-trained, Stubbs learnt his skills independently from other great artists of the 18th century such as Joshua Reynolds and Thoma ...

(1777), fellow academician

Dominic Serres Dominic Serres ( 4 November 1793) was a French-born British painter who specialised in marine art. He co-founded the Royal Academy (RA) in 1768, and served as the RA's librarian from 1792 until his death. Life and works He was born in Auch ...

, the chemist

Joseph Priestley Joseph Priestley (; 24 March 1733 – 6 February 1804) was an English chemist, Unitarian, Natural philosophy, natural philosopher, English Separatist, separatist theologian, Linguist, grammarian, multi-subject educator and Classical libera ...

, and allegedly a portrait claimed to be of the teenage

Jane Austen Jane Austen ( ; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for #List of works, her six novels, which implicitly interpret, critique, and comment on the English landed gentry at the end of the 18th century ...

, from perhaps as early as 1790 (clothing styles suggest a later date), known as the "Rice" portrait after a later owner, though this has always been a controversial attribution of the sitter. This failed to reach its minimum estimate in a

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, and it has additional salerooms in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, Geneva, Shan ...

auction in April 2007, and was withdrawn from sale. His pupils included

John Opie John Opie (16 May 1761 – 9 April 1807) was a British painter whose subjects included many prominent men and women of his day, members of the British royal family and others who were notable in the artistic and literary professions. Early ca ...

. He compiled a fifty-page manuscript ''A Memoir of George Stubbs'', based on what Stubbs had related to him; it is the only contemporary biography. This was edited and privately published in the 1870s and republished in 2005. He also knew

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake has become a seminal figure in the history of the Romantic poetry, poetry and visual art of the Roma ...

and commissioned copies of some of his illustrated books. At least one of Blake's letters to him is a significant document for Blake's biographers.

India

From 1785 to 1787, he travelled to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, producing many miniatures and sketches. He was elected a member of the

in 1791. In 1792 he was appointed ''Portrait Painter in Crayons to the King''. Most of his many portraits of the Royal Family are still in the Royal Collection.3 images online
/ref> His sight finally failed in 1797, and he died in 1810 in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, England, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, located mainly in the London Borough of Camden, with a small part in the London Borough of Barnet. It borders Highgate and Golders Green to the north, Belsiz ...

, north London. The bulk of his possessions came into the hands of his

natural son Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally marriage, married to each other, and of a child Fertilisation, conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, ''illegitim ...

, William Upcott, the book collector. From him the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

acquired a large number of papers relating to Humphry. He is alluded to in some lines by Hayley.

References

External links

*
7 works by Humphry (and many prints after him)
from the

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: * National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra * National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London ...

Profile on Royal Academy of Arts Collections
{{DEFAULTSORT:Humphry, Ozias 1742 births 1810 deaths 18th-century English painters 19th-century English painters 18th-century English male artists 19th-century English male artists English male painters People from Honiton English portrait miniaturists Royal Academicians