Richard Livesay (1750–1826) was a British portrait and landscape painter, and engraver.

Life

Livesay was a pupil of

Benjamin West Benjamin West (October 10, 1738 – March 11, 1820) was a British-American artist who painted famous historical scenes such as ''The Death of Nelson (West painting), The Death of Nelson'', ''The Death of General Wolfe'', the ''Treaty of Paris ( ...

, and began his career in London, exhibiting for the first time 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 ...

in 1776. Between 1777 and 1785 he lodged with Jane Hogarth in

Leicester Fields Leicester Square ( ) is a pedestrianised square in the West End of London, England, and is the centre of London's entertainment district. It was laid out in 1670 as Leicester Fields, which was named after the recently built Leicester House, ...

. Engaged by West to copy pictures at

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places *Detroit–Windsor, Michigan-Ontario, USA-Canada, North America; a cross-border metropolitan region Australia New South Wales *Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area Queen ...

, Livesay moved there about 1790, and gave lessons in drawing to some of the royal children. In 1796 he was appointed drawing-master to the

Royal Naval Academy The Royal Naval Academy was a facility established in 1733 in HMNB Portsmouth, Portsmouth Dockyard to train officers for the Royal Navy. The founders' intentions were to provide an alternative means to recruit officers and to provide standardise ...

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

, and lived in Portsea. On an address card which he issued at that time he described himself as "Portrait, Landscape, and Marine Painter, Drawing-Master to the Royal Academy, Portsmouth, 61 Hanover Street, Portsea." Livesay died at

Southsea Southsea is a seaside resort and a geographic area of Portsmouth, Portsea Island in the ceremonial county of Hampshire, England. Southsea is located 1.8 miles (2.8 km) to the south of Portsmouth's inner city-centre. Southsea began as a f ...

in 1826.

Works

Livesay executed for Jane Hogarth a series of facsimiles of drawings by

William Hogarth William Hogarth (; 10 November 1697 – 26 October 1764) was an English painter, engraving, engraver, pictorial social satire, satirist, editorial cartoonist and occasional writer on art. His work ranges from Realism (visual arts), realistic p ...

, her late husband, among them seven illustrating the well-known ''Tour'', published in 1782. While at Windsor he painted portraits of young Etonians, generally small whole-lengths, and a picture by him of ''Eton Boys going to Montem'' is in the possession of

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

, to which it was presented by the Duke of Newcastle in 1891. In the wartime years, Livesay painted English warships and their French prizes, and in 1800 he published a set of four plates of the reviews of the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

volunteers, aquatinted by John Wells. He painted a large picture of the review of the

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

volunteers by the king in Hatfield Park, 13 June 1800, which was engraved by J. C. Stadler, and once hung in

Lord Salisbury Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (; 3 February 183022 August 1903), known as Lord Salisbury, was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United ...

's town house, 20 Arlington Street. Livesay was an exhibitor at the Royal Academy of portraits and domestic subjects up to 1821; his ''Genius and Industry'', ''Cottage Spinsters'', and ''Young Foresters'' were mezzotinted by

George Dawe George Dawe (6 February 1781 – 15 October 1829) was an English portraitist who painted 329 portraits of Russian generals active during Napoleon's invasion of Russia for the Military Gallery of the Winter Palace. He relocated to Saint P ...

and John Murphy, and his portraits of Queen Charlotte, Dr. Willis, George Byng, M.P., Dr. Fothergill, Sir Thomas Louis, bart., and others, were engraved. A portrait by Livesay of

James Caulfeild, 1st Earl of Charlemont James Caulfeild, 1st Earl of Charlemont Order of St Patrick, KP Privy Council of Ireland, PC (Ire) (18 August 1728 – 4 August 1799), was an Irish politician, statesman. Life Early life The son of James Caulfeild, 3rd Viscount Charlemont ...

has a copy in the

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London that houses a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. When it opened in 1856, it was arguably the first national public gallery in the world th ...

. The version 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 ...

is taken to be the original.

Notes

External links

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Livesay, Richard 1750 births 1826 deaths British painters British portrait artists British engravers