Thomas Phillips (18 October 1770 – 20 April 1845) was a leading English

portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better r ...

and subject painter. He painted many of the notable men of the day including scientists, artists, writers, poets and explorers.

Life and work

Phillips was born at

Dudley Dudley ( , ) is a market town in the West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically part of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley. In the ...

, then in

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

. Having learnt glass-painting in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

under Francis Eginton, he visited London in 1790 with an introduction to Benjamin West, who found him employment on the painted-glass windows of St George's Chapel at Windsor. In 1791 he became a student 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 ...

, where, in 1792 he exhibited a view of

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 ...

, followed in the next two years by the ''Death of Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, at the Battle of Castillon'', ''Ruth and Naomi'', ''Elijah restoring the Widow's Son'', ''Cupid disarmed by Euphrosyne'', and other pictures. After 1796, he concentrated on portrait-painting. However, the field was very crowded with the likes of John Hoppner, William Owen,

Thomas Lawrence Sir Thomas Lawrence (13 April 1769 – 7 January 1830) was an English people, English portrait painter and the fourth president of the Royal Academy. A child prodigy, he was born in Bristol and began drawing in Devizes, where his father was a ...

and

Martin Archer Shee Sir Martin Archer Shee (23 December 1769 – 13 August 1850) was an Irish portrait painter. He also served as the president of the Royal Academy. Early life He was born in Dublin, of an old Irish Roman Catholic family, the son of Martin Shee ...

competing for business; consequently, from 1796 to 1800, his exhibited works were chiefly portraits of gentlemen and ladies, often nameless in the catalogue and of no great importance, historically speaking. In 1804 he was elected an associate of the Royal Academy, together with his rival, William Owen. About the same time he moved to 8 George Street, Hanover Square, London, formerly the residence of Henry Tresham, R.A., where he lived for the rest of his life. He became a royal academician in 1808, and presented as his diploma work ''Venus and Adonis'' (exhibited the same year), perhaps the best of his creative subjects, apart from ''Expulsion from Paradise''. Meanwhile, he rose steadily in public favour, and in 1806, painted the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

, the Marchioness of Stafford, the ''Marquess of Stafford's Family'', and Lord Thurlow. In 1807 he sent to the Royal Academy the well-known portrait of

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 ...

, now 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 ...

, which was engraved in line by Luigi Schiavonetti, and later etched by William Bell Scott. His contributions to the academy exhibition of 1809 included a portrait of Sir

Joseph Banks Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, (19 June 1820) was an English Natural history, naturalist, botanist, and patron of the natural sciences. Banks made his name on the European and American voyages of scientific exploration, 1766 natural-history ...

(engraved by Niccolo Schiavonetti), and to that of 1814, two portraits of

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...

(engraved by Robert Graves). In 1818 he exhibited a portrait of Sir

Francis Chantrey Sir Francis Leggatt Chantrey (7 April 1781 – 25 November 1841) was an English sculptor. He became the leading portrait sculptor in Regency era Britain, producing busts and statues of many notable figures of the time. Chantrey's most notable w ...

, and, in 1819, one of the poet George Crabbe. His 1822 portrait of Sir Charles Asgill was exhibited at the Royal Academy that same year. In 1825 he was elected professor of painting at the Royal Academy, succeeding Henry Fuseli, and, in order to qualify himself for his duties, visited Italy and Rome in company with William Hilton, and also Sir David Wilkie, whom they met in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

. He resigned the professorship in 1832, and in 1833 published his "Lectures on the History and Principles of Painting". Phillips also painted portraits of

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...

, Robert Southey, George Anthony Legh Keck (1830), Thomas Campbell (poet), Joseph Henry Green,

Samuel Taylor Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge ( ; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets with his friend William Wordsworth ...

, Henry Hallam, Mary Somerville, Sir Edward Parry, Sir John Franklin, Dixon Denham, the African traveller, and Hugh Clapperton. Besides these he painted two portraits of Sir David Wilkie, the

Duke of York Duke of York is a title of nobility in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of List of English monarchs, English (later List of British monarchs, British) monarchs ...

(for the town-hall,

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

), Dean

William Buckland William Buckland Doctor of Divinity, DD, Royal Society, FRS (12 March 1784 – 14 August 1856) was an English theologian, geologist and paleontology, palaeontologist. His work in the early 1820s proved that Kirkdale Cave in North Yorkshire h ...

, Sir

Humphry Davy Sir Humphry Davy, 1st Baronet (17 December 177829 May 1829) was a British chemist and inventor who invented the Davy lamp and a very early form of arc lamp. He is also remembered for isolating, by using electricity, several Chemical element, e ...

, Samuel Rogers,

Michael Faraday Michael Faraday (; 22 September 1791 – 25 August 1867) was an English chemist and physicist who contributed to the study of electrochemistry and electromagnetism. His main discoveries include the principles underlying electromagnetic inducti ...

(engraved in mezzotint by Henry Cousins),

John Dalton John Dalton (; 5 or 6 September 1766 – 27 July 1844) was an English chemist, physicist and meteorologist. He introduced the atomic theory into chemistry. He also researched Color blindness, colour blindness; as a result, the umbrella term ...

, and a head of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

, painted in Paris in 1802, not from actual sittings, but with Empress Joséphine's consent, who afforded him opportunities of observing the First Consul while at dinner. Years later in Paris, he was to portray his younger colleague Ary Scheffer (c. 1835, Musée de la Vie romantique, Paris). A self-portrait, exhibited in 1844, was one of his last works. Phillips wrote many occasional essays on the fine arts, especially for Rees's "Cyclopaedia", and also a memoir of

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 ...

for John Nichols's edition of that artist's "Works", 1808–17. He was a fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

and of the Society of Antiquaries. He was also, with Chantrey, Turner, Robertson, and others, one of the founders of the

Artists' General Benevolent Institution The Artists' General Benevolent Institution is a British charity assisting professional artists in England, Wales and Northern Ireland who are in financial difficulty due to illness, old age or accident. It was founded in 1814 by members of the Ro ...

. Phillips died at 8 George Street, Hanover Square, London, on 20 April 1845, and was interred in the burial-ground of St. John's Wood chapel. He married Elizabeth Fraser of Fairfield, near Inverness. They had two daughters and two sons, the elder of whom, Joseph Scott Phillips, became a major in the Bengal artillery, and died at Wimbledon, Surrey, on 18 December 1884, aged 72. His younger son, Henry Wyndham Phillips (1820–1868) was a portrait painter, secretary of the "''Artists General Benevolent Institution''", and captain in the Artists' volunteer corps. Artist and illustrator John William Wright (1802–1848) was his pupil.

Gallery

File:Thomas Phillips (1770-1845) - George O'Brien Wyndham (1751–1837), 3rd Earl of Egremont, in the Uniform of the Sussex Yeomanry - 486812 - National Trust.jpg, Earl of Egremont, 1799 File:Charles Dibdin by Thomas Phillips.jpg, Charles Dibdin, 1799 File:William Blake by Thomas Phillips.jpg,

, 1807 File:Sir Joseph Banks, Bt by Thomas Phillips.jpg,

, 1810 File:Thomas Phillips - Sir David Wilkie, 1785 - 1841. Artist - PG 719 - National Galleries of Scotland.jpg, David Wilkie, File:Thomas Phillips (1770-1845) - John Hely-Hutchinson, first Baron Hutchinson and second Earl of Donoughmore (1757-1832) - RCIN 402776 - Royal Collection.jpg, John Hely-Hutchinson, 2nd Earl of Donoughmore, 1811 File:Portrait of Lady Caroline Lamb (Phillips).jpg, '' Portrait of Lady Caroline Lamb'', 1813 File:Lord Byron in Albanian dress.jpg, '' Lord Byron in Albanian Dress'', 1813 File:Thomas Phillips (1770-1845) - HRH the Prince Regent (1762–1830), Later George IV, and Colonel Charles Wyndham (1796–1866) - 485129 - National Trust.jpg, The

Prince Regent A prince regent or princess regent is a prince or princess who, due to their position in the line of succession, rules a monarchy as regent in the stead of a monarch, e.g., as a result of the sovereign's incapacity (minority or illness) or ab ...

and Charles Wyndham, 1813 File:Byron 1813 by Phillips.jpg, '' Portrait of Lord Byron'', 1814 File:Portrait of the Duke of Wellington (Thomas Phillips).png, '' Portrait of the Duke of Wellington'', 1814 File:Thomas Phillips - Portrait of Matvei Platov - WGA17404.jpg, Matvei Platov, 1814 File:Joshua Brookes by Thomas Phillips.jpg, Joshua Brookes, 1815 File:Thomas Phillips (1770-1845) - The Allied Sovereigns at Petworth, 24 June 1814 (George, 1751–1837, 3rd Earl of Egremont, with His C - 486228 - National Trust.jpg, '' The Allied Sovereigns at Petworth'', 1817 File:Thomas Phillips (1770-1845) - Robert Southey (1774–1843) - 1994.81 - Dove Cottage.jpg, Robert Southey, 1818 File:Thomas Phillips (1770-1845) - Sir Francis Leggatt Chantrey - NPG 86 - National Portrait Gallery.jpg, ''

Portrait of Francis Leggatt Chantrey ''Portrait of Francis Leggatt Chantrey'' is an 1818 portrait painting by the English artist Thomas Phillips depicting the sculptor Francis Leggatt Chantrey. History and description The son of a farmer Chantrey established himself as a leading sc ...

'', 1818 File:Thomas Phillips (1770-1845) - William Wyndham Grenville (1759–1834), Baron Grenville, as Chancellor of Oxford University - 486151 - National Trust.jpg, Lord Grenville, 1819 File:Grey2.JPG, '' Portrait of Earl Grey'', File:John George Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham by Thomas Phillips.jpg, Earl of Durham, 1820 File:Sir Humphry Davy, Bt by Thomas Phillips.jpg,

, 1821 File:Portrait of David Ricardo by Thomas Phillips.jpg,

David Ricardo David Ricardo (18 April 1772 – 11 September 1823) was a British political economist, politician, and member of Parliament. He is recognized as one of the most influential classical economists, alongside figures such as Thomas Malthus, Ada ...

, File:Sir John Franklin by Thomas Phillips.jpg, John Franklin, 1828 File:Thomas Phillips - Mary Fairfax, Mrs William Somerville, 1780 - 1872. Writer on science - PG 1115 - National Galleries of Scotland.jpg, Mary Somerville, 1834 File:Sir Francis Burdett, 5th Bt by Thomas Phillips.jpg, Sir Francis Burdett, 1834 File:John Dalton by Thomas Phillips, 1835.jpg,

, 1835 File:John Lothrop Motley by Thomas Phillips, c. 1835, oil on canvas, from the National Portrait Gallery - NPG-6600016A 2.jpg, John Lothrop Motley, File:Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex by Thomas Phillips.jpg,

Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex (27 January 1773 – 21 April 1843), was the sixth son and ninth child of George III, King George III and his queen consort, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. He was the only surviving son of George III ...

, File:Thomas Arnold by Thomas Phillips.jpg, Thomas Arnold, 1839 File:Portait of Michael Faraday2.png, '' Portrait of Michael Faraday'', 1842

Sources

References

External links

Thomas Phillips online
(''ArtCyclopedia'')

(The Walter Scott Digital Archive, Edinburgh University Library) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Thomas 1770 births 1845 deaths 19th-century English painters 18th-century English painters English male painters English portrait painters Fellows of the Royal Society English Orientalist painters People from Dudley Royal Academicians 18th-century English male artists 19th-century English male artists