Thomas Musgrave Joy
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Thomas Musgrave Joy (9 July 1812 – 7 April 1866) was a British portraitist.


Life

Joy was born on 9 July 1812 in Boughton Hall in
Boughton Monchelsea Boughton Monchelsea is a village and civil parish in the borough of Maidstone in Kent, England. The civil parish lies on a ragstone ridge situated between the North Downs and the Weald of Kent and has commonly been called Quarry Hills. The ...
where his father was the squire. His parents, Thomas and Susanah, were not keen on his choice of career but he was allowed to leave
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 ...
to study with
Samuel Drummond Samuel Drummond (25 December 1766, London – 6 August 1844, London) was a British painter, especially prolific in portrait and marine genre painting. His works are on display in the National Portrait Gallery, the National Maritime Museum and ...
in London. By 1831 he was exhibiting 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 ...
. The
McManus Galleries The McManus: Dundee's Art Gallery and Museum is a Gothic Revival-style building, located in the centre of Dundee, Scotland. The building houses a museum and art gallery with a collection of fine and decorative art as well as a natural history co ...
in Dundee today exhibit Joy's substantial commissions to paint
Grace Darling Grace Horsley Darling (also known as "Amazing Grace"; 24 November 1815 – 20 October 1842) was an English lighthouse keeper's daughter. Her participation in the rescue of survivors from the shipwrecked ''Forfarshire'' in 1838 brought her nat ...
and her father
William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...
, who had become Victorian heroes after rescuing sailors from the distressed ''
Forfarshire Angus (; ) is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy area. The council area borders Aberdeenshire, Dundee City and Perth and Kinross. Main industries include agriculture and fishing. Global pharmaceuticals ...
''
paddle steamer A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine driving paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, whereby the first uses were wh ...
. Joy also painted a re-creation of the wreck for his patron Lord Panmure and this is also in the same galleries in Dundee. Panmure was generous with this good-looking artist, encouraging him to visit the continent and paying for
John Phillip John Phillip (19 April 1817 – 27 February 1867) was a Scottish painter best known for his portrayals of Spanish life. He started painting these studies after a trip to Spain in 1851. He was nicknamed John 'Spanish' Phillip. Life Phi ...
to become his student briefly in 1836. Joy married Eliza Rohde Spratt in 1839 and two years later received a Royal Commission that recognised him as an established artist. The newly married couple lived at No. 8 Fitzroy Street in the London parish of St Pancras. He painted the Queen's dogs as well as the Prince of Wales, the
Duke of Cambridge Duke of Cambridge is a hereditary title of nobility in the British royal family, one of several royal dukedoms in the United Kingdom. The title is named after the city of Cambridge in England. It is heritable by agnatic, male descendants by pr ...
and the
Princess Royal Princess Royal is a substantive title, title customarily (but not automatically) awarded by British monarchs to their eldest daughters. Although purely honorary, it is the highest honour that may be given to a female member of the royal famil ...
. These paintings are in the
Royal Collection The Royal Collection of the British royal family is the largest private art collection in the world. Spread among 13 occupied and historic List of British royal residences, royal residences in the United Kingdom, the collection is owned by King ...
. Joy was in demand as a portrait painter and he created paintings of General Sir
Charles James Napier General Sir Charles James Napier, ( ; 10 August 178229 August 1853) was an officer and veteran of the British Army's Peninsular and 1812 campaigns, and later a major general of the Bombay Army, during which period he led the British military co ...
who had achieved victories in what is now called Pakistan. A large group painting exhibited in 1864 records the most important people at
Tattersalls Tattersalls (formerly Tattersall's) is the main auctioneer of race horses in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Founding It was founded in 1766 by Richard Tattersall (1724–1795), who had been stud groom to the second Duke of Kingston. ...
before a race.Thomas Musgrave Joy
Stanford University, retrieved October 2013
Joy's habits of overwork are said to have led to a bout of
bronchitis Bronchitis is inflammation of the bronchi (large and medium-sized airways) in the lungs that causes coughing. Bronchitis usually begins as an infection in the nose, ears, throat, or sinuses. The infection then makes its way down to the bronchi. ...
that resulted in his death in 1866. In the same year his eighteen-year-old eldest daughter, Mary Eliza, exhibited her first painting at the Royal Academy. Joy died in
Pimlico Pimlico () is a district in Central London, in the City of Westminster, built as a southern extension to neighbouring Belgravia. It is known for its garden squares and distinctive Regency architecture. Pimlico is demarcated to the north by Lon ...
at 32 St Georges Square.


Legacy

Joy had exhibited regularly throughout his career at the
Society of British Artists The Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) is a British art body established in 1823 as the Society of British Artists, as an alternative to the Royal Academy. History The RBA commenced with twenty-seven members, and took until 1876 to reach fi ...
and at the
British Institution The British Institution (in full, the British Institution for Promoting the Fine Arts in the United Kingdom; founded 1805, disbanded 1867) was a private 19th-century society in London formed to exhibit the works of living and dead artists; it ...
. Besides the paintings in Dundee he also has a number in public collections including 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 ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Joy, Thomas Musgrave 1812 births 1866 deaths People from Boughton Monchelsea 19th-century English painters English male painters English portrait painters 19th-century English male artists