Frederick Yeates Hurlstone
Encyclopedia
Frederick Yeates Hurlstone (1800 - 10 June 1869) was an English portrait and historical painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...

.

Life

Hurlstone was born in London, the eldest son by his second marriage of Thomas Y. Hurlstone, one of the proprietors of the "Morning Chronicle
Morning Chronicle
The Morning Chronicle was a newspaper founded in 1769 in London, England, and published under various owners until 1862. It was most notable for having been the first employer of Charles Dickens, and for publishing the articles by Henry Mayhew which were collected and published in book format in...

" (his granduncle, Richard Hurlstone, was a well-known portrait-painter a generation earlier). He began life in the office of his father's journal, but, while still very young, became a pupil of Sir William Beechey
William Beechey
Sir Henry William Beechey , English portrait-painter, was born at Burford, the son of William Beechey and Hannah Read ....

, afterwards studying under Sir Thomas Lawrence
Thomas Lawrence
Thomas Lawrence may refer to:*Sir Thomas Lawrence, British artist, President of Royal Academy*Thomas Lawrence , mayor of colonial Philadelphia*T. E. Lawrence, "Lawrence of Arabia"*Thomas Lawrence , U.S. politician...

, and also, it is said, under Benjamin Haydon
Benjamin Haydon
Benjamin Robert Haydon was an English historical painter and writer.-Biography:Haydon was born in Plymouth. His mother was the daughter of the Rev. Benjamin Cobley, rector of Dodbrooke, near Kingsbridge, Devon. Her brother, General Sir Thomas Cobley, was renowned for his part in the siege of Ismail...

.

His first original work was an altar-piece, painted in 1816, for which he received 20 pounds. In 1820 he was admitted as a student of the Royal Academy
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...

, where in 1822 he gained the silver medal for the best copy made in the school of painting, and in 1823 the gold medal for historical painting, the subject being "The Contention between the Archangel Michael and Satan for the Body of Moses". He first exhibited in 1821, sending to the Royal Academy "Le Malade Imaginaire" and to the British Institution
British Institution
The British Institution was a private 19th-century society in London formed to exhibit the works of living and dead artists; it was also known as the Pall Mall Picture Galleries or the British Gallery...

 a "View near Windsor". These were followed at the Academy in 1822 by "The Return of the Prodigal Son" and a portrait, in 1823 by five portraits, and in 1824 by his "Archangel Michael" and some more portraits.

One of his best early works was "A Venetian Page with a Parrot", exhibited at the British Institution in 1824. In 1824 also he contributed "The Bandit Chief" to the first exhibition of the Society of British Artists. He continued to send portraits to the Royal Academy until 1830, but in 1831 he was elected a member of the Society of British Artists, after which he seldom exhibited elsewhere. He was chosen president in 1835, and again in 1840, retaining the office until his death. He contributed to the society's exhibitions upwards of three hundred portraits and other works, among them being "The Enchantress Armida", exhibited in 1831; "Haidee aroused from her Trance by the sound of Music", 1834; "Eros", 1836; "Italian Boys playing at the National Game of Mora" and the "Prisoner of Chillon", 1837; "The Scene in St. Peter's, Rome, from Byron's Deformed Transformed", 1839; "The Convent of St. Isidore: the Monks giving away provisions", 1841; and a "Scene in a Spanish Posada in Andalusia", 1843.

In 1844 and, for the last time, in 1845 he again sent portraits to the Academy. His subsequent works at the Society of British Artists included "The Sons of Jacob bringing the blood-stained garment of Joseph to their Father", 1844; "Salute, Signore", 1845; "A Girl of Sorrento at a Well", 1847; "Inhabitants of the Palace of the Cæsars—Rome in the Nineteenth Century" 1850; "Columbus asking Alms at the Convent of La Rabida" 1853; "The Last Sigh of the Moor" (or "Boabdil el Chico, mourning over the Fall of Granada, reproached by his Mother"), 1854; and "Margaret of Anjou and Edward, Prince of Wales, in the wood on their flight after the Battle of Hexham", 1860. Besides these may be noted "The Eve of the Land which is still Paradise" and "Constance and Prince Arthur".

His later works, which were much inferior to those of his earlier years, consisted mainly of Spanish and Italian rustic and fancy subjects, the outcome of several visits to Italy, Spain, and Morocco, made between 1835 and 1854.

Hurlstone was also a successful portrait painter, one of his best heads being that of Richard, seventh earl of Cavan
Richard Lambart, 7th Earl of Cavan
General Richard Ford William Lambart, 7th Earl of Cavan , styled Viscount Kilcoursie from 1772 to 1778, was a military commander throughout the Napoleonic era and beyond. He was colonial head of Egypt...

, exhibited at the Society of British Artists in 1833, and again, together with that of General Sir John MacLeod
John Macleod (British Army officer)
Lieutenant General Sir John Angus Macleod GCH was Master Gunner, St James's Park, the most senior Ceremonial Post in the Royal Artillery after the Sovereign.-Military career:...

, at the National Portrait Exhibition of 1868.

He was always much opposed to the constitution and management of the Royal Academy, and gave evidence before the select committee of the House of Commons in 1836. He was awarded a gold medal at the Paris Exhibition
Exposition Universelle (1855)
The Exposition Universelle of 1855 was an International Exhibition held on the Champs-Elysées in Paris from May 15 to November 15, 1855. Its full official title was the Exposition Universelle des produits de l'Agriculture, de l'Industrie et des Beaux-Arts de Paris 1855.The exposition was a major...

 of 1855, the works which he sent being 'La Mora' 'Boabdil' and 'Constance and Arthur'. Eleven of his best works were re-exhibited at the Society of British Artists in 1870.

Hurlstone died at 9 Chester Street, Belgrave Square
Belgrave Square
Belgrave Square is one of the grandest and largest 19th century squares in London, England. It is the centrepiece of Belgravia, and was laid out by the property contractor Thomas Cubitt for the 2nd Earl Grosvenor, later the 1st Marquess of Westminster, in the 1820s. Most of the houses were occupied...

, London, on 10 June 1869, in his sixty-ninth year, and was buried in Norwood cemetery.

Family and descendants

In 1836 Hurlstone married fellow artist Jane Coral who exhibited some watercolour drawings and portraits at the Royal Academy and the Society of British Artists between 1846 and 1850, but from 1850 to 1856 she contributed to the latter exhibition only fancy subjects in oil-colours. She died on 2 Oct. 1858, leaving issue two sons, one of whom was also an artist. Hurlstone's grandson, William Martin Yeates Hurlstone
William Hurlstone
William Yeates Hurlstone was an English composer who studied piano and composition at the Royal College of Music, after gaining a scholarship. His piano professors were Algernon Ashton and Edward Dannreuther...

, became a moderately well-known composer.

Some representative Works

  • A Venetian Page (1824)
  • The Enchantress Armida (1831)
  • Eros (1836)
  • Prisoner of Chillon (1837)
  • Girl of Sorrento (1847)
  • Boabdil (1854)
  • Portrait of the 7th Earl of Cavan (1833).

External links

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