WIL
WIL
to the King and Queen, whose favour he enjoyed, his picture of ' Belshazzar's Feast.' He etched with great ability, and was a copier of Rembrandt, after whom he is said to have produced a landscape, which took in Hudson, who was a great connoisseur and collector. A caricature etching by him, at the time of the American Stamp Act, called ( The Repeal, 1 and sold at sixpence, is said to have produced him 300/. Several of his works were engraved, 'Garrick, as Hamlet,' by McArdell ; * Garrick, as King Lear ; ' * Lady Stanhope, as the Fair Penitent, in some amateur theatricals/ by Basire, and other portraits. He married at the age of fifty, and had seven children, one of whom became well known as General Sir Robert Wilson. He died in Bloomsbury, June 6, 1788. He had been a speculator on the Stock Exchange, and was, about 1766, a defaulter ; but, to the surprise of his friends, he left a very handsome property.
WILSON, Charles, architect. Com- menced his studies in 1827, in the office of Mr. David Hamilton of Glasgow, and two or three years after the termination of his apprenticeship set up in business for him- self, practising both in the Classic and Gothic styles. One of his early works was the Lunatic Asylum at Glasgow, commenced in 1842. He afterwards erected many public buildings in Scotland, andjwas the President of the tflasgow Architectural Association. He died 1862 or 1863.
WILSON, James, engraver and drafts- man Born about 1735. Practised in London. There are some good works by him in mezzo-tint, several of them after Sir Joshua Reynolds. He died about 1780.
WILSON, John H., R.S.A., landscape and marine painter. Born in Ayr Borough, August 13, 1774. Apprenticed to a house- decorator in Edinburgh, and, on the com- pletion of his term, having received some instruction from Alexander Nasmyth, he went to Montrose, where he passed two years in painting and in teaching drawing. About 1798 he came to London, and was employed as a scene-painter at Astley's. In 1807 he was for the first time an exhi- bitor at the Royal Academy, and again in 1809, and both his pictures found a pur- chaser. In 1810 he married. In 1813 he exhibited at the British Institution and was a constant contributor from that time for many years, his sketch of the Battle of Trafalgar, in 1826, gaining in competition one of the premiums of 100 guineas offered by the directors. He was a foundation member of the Society of British Artists, established in 1824, and one of its most constant supporters and exhibitors. Though settled in London he was a regular exhi- bitor at the Royal Scottish Academy, and was elected one of its honorary members.
During the latter years of his life he resided at Folkestone, with the sea, which he loved to study, ever before him ? and there he died on April 29, 1855, having continued to paint till the last. His pictures are bold and free— the sea in all its moods, the ves- sels that traverse it and the craft which haunt its shores, he rendered with truth and spirit, and his works — if wanting in re- finement of execution — are strong in their reality to nature.
- WILSON, Rtchabd, R.A., landscape
painter. Was born August 1, 1714, at Finegas, in Montgomeryshire, where bis father, who was afterwards collated to Mold, in Flintshire, then held a small liv- ing. His mother was connected with the family of the Lord Chancellor Camden. He received an excellent classical education from his father, and in 1729, having shown some early taste, was sent to London, assisted by Sir George Wynne, Bt., a relation of his mother, and placed under Thomas Wright, a portrait painter of small ability, with whom ne continued six years. He then commenced portrait painting on his own account, and after several years practice, must have obtained some power, even were the great art qualities, which he afterwards displayed, unrecognised. He must also have been of some reputation, as he was employed in 1749 to pamt the full- length portraits of the Prince of Wales and the Duke of York, and his ability in this branch of art is attested by the works which are known, and of which there are examples at the Garrick Club and in several private collections.
He had, with the desire which belongs to the artist, looked forward to visit Italy, and having managed to save the means, he set out in the year last mentioned for Venice. Hitherto his practice had been in portrai- ture, but here the true bent of his genius was disclosed. Zuccarelli, then a fashion- able landscape painter, admired a landscape which he had painted and advised him to follow that art. After a stay of about twelve months at Venice, where he made acquaintance with Mr. Locke, of Norbury, he visited with him several of the Italian cities, painting for him some sketches and landscapes, and continued his journey to Rome. Here he remained some while, and meeting with little employment and being in difficulties, probably devoted his time to landscape, and here Vernet. the celebrated French artist, seeing one oi his landscapes, exchanged for it a picture of his own, counselled him to continue that art, and recommended him to his own friends. After having spent nearly six years in Italy, chiefly in Rome, he travelled to Naples with Lord Dartmouth, for whom he painted some fine landscapes, and in 1755 made his way home.
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