Page:Dictionary of Artists of the English School (1878).djvu/36

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ATK

ATK

the remembrance of his early follies. He died at Duckingfield Lodge, November 14, 1787, and was buried in the village church there. He had, when far advanced in life, married a third wife, and left a son and two daughters.

ATKI N S, J. , portrait painter. Born in Ireland. He studied for a time at Rome, and exhibited portraits at the Academy in 1831 and 1833. He was a young artist of much promise, and went to Constantinople to paint the portrait of the Sultan ; on his return, and while undergoing quarantine at Malta, he was attacked with fever, and died there 1834.

ATKINS, S., marine painter. Ex- hibited some good paintings at the Royal Academy in 1787— A Light Breeze/ * A Calm/ and 'A Fresh Gale/ but did not exhibit again till 1791, when in that year, and up to 1796, he was a contributor. He then went to the East Indies, and on his return in 1804 exhibited ' An East India- man passing the Boca Tigris/ and con- tinued an exhibitor to 1808. He painted both in oil and in water-colour. His works are characterised by much neatness and truth of finish.

ATKINSON, Thomas Witlam, archi- tect and draftsman. Was of numbie origin; bora about 1799; and was em- ployed as a mason or stone-carver upon several churches building in the North of England. He for some time taught draw- ing at Ashton-under-Lyne. Ingenious and observant, he gained knowledge in his work, and drew and published in 1831 his 4 Gothic Ornaments.' He afterwards settled at Manchester, and commenced practice as an architect, and gave the first impulse towards some taste in building in that city. In 1829 and the succeeding years he ex- hibited some architectural designs at the Royal Academy. In 1840, after some re- verses, which left him in difficulties, he came to London, and eventually went to Hamburg, and from thence to Berlin and St. Petersburg. Then abandoning any practice as an architect, he started as a traveller and an artist, and with the sanc- tion of the Russian Government he visited the most remote parts of Russia in Asia, including the Amoor River, bordering Chinese Tartary. He made a great many drawings and notes upon the condition of this remote territory, and returning to England after many difficulties, he pub- lished, with his own illustrations, in 1858, 1 Oriental and Western Siberia ; * in I860. ' Travels in the Region of the Upper ana Lower Amoor.' The ' Recollections of the Tartar Steppes and their Inhabitants ' ap- peared in 1863. He died at Little Walmer, Kent, August 13, 1861, aged 62.

ATKINSON, John Augustus, painter and draftsman. Was born in London in

1775, and in 1784 went with his uncle to St. Petersburg. Fond of art, he was allowed to study in the picture gallery of the royal palace, and gained the patronage of the Empress Catharine, ana, on her death, of her son the Emperor Paul. In- duced to settle in Russia, he executed there some good paintings. Two in the Michael's Palace represent * The Victory of the Cos- sacks of the Don over the Tartars ' and ' The Baptism of Count Wladimir.' He was a very skilful draftsman, and made numerous drawings of Russian costume and amusements, and illustrated a Russian edition of 'Hudibras,' published in 1798 at Kflnigsberg. In 1801 he returned to England, and the following year was an exhibitor of a Russian subject at the Royal Academy. Boydell about the same time published a view by him of the Russian metropolis, and a portrait of Suwarrow, engraved by Walker. In 1803-1804 he published * A Picturesque Representation of the Manners, Customs, and Amusements of the Russians ; ' the plates, slightly etched in outline, shaded with aqua-tint and coloured, number 100, and were all drawn and etched by himself. In 1807 he pub- lished a set of soft-ground etchings to illustrate the miseries of human life; and, in the same year, * A Picturesque Representation, in i00 coloured plates, of the Naval, Military, and Miscellaneous Costumes of Great Britain.' Later, he published some very spirited lithographic drawings of battles. In 1819 he completed a large picture of the ' Battle of Waterloo,' which was engraved by Burnet. He first exhibited at the Water-Colour Society as an ' Associate,' in 1808, two classic subjects with some others, and the following year was elected a member of the Society, when his contributions were chiefly military. In 1810 and 1811 his works were of the same class. In 1812 he sent Shakespeare's

  • Seven Ages.' In 1813, when an alteration

was made in the rules of the Society, his name no longer appears as a member, but he continued: to contribute under the new class as an 'exhibitor' up to 1818, when his contributions ceased. He was also a frequent exhibitor at the Royal Academy, sending during several years both rustic and classic subjects, with battle-pieces and camp scenes, in oil and water-colours. His last contribution was in 1829. The date of his death cannot be traced. His drawing was vigorous and powerful, his battle-

Eieces, m which he excelled, very spirited ; is representation of character and costume truthful; and his water-colour drawings simple in treatment, and characterised by a masterly hand.

  • ATKINSON, Frederick, amateur.

Was a silk- mercer and draper at York; and about the beginning of the 19th

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