Hugh William Williams

Hugh William Williams, portrayed by Sir Henry Raeburn around 1818.

Hugh William Williams (also known as Hugh 'Grecian' Williams) (* 1773 - June 3, 1829 in Edinburgh ) was a Scottish landscape painter with Welsh roots.

Ancient temple in Corinth ; Engraving by Miller after Williams.

Williams was born on his father's ship during a sea voyage to the West Indies . After his parents died prematurely, he was raised by his grandmother, who lived in Edinburgh. There he attended Alexander Nasmyth's private drawing school and devoted himself to landscape painting at an early age.

As a successful artist, known for his romantic views, Williams had devoted himself exclusively to watercolor painting and did not devote himself to oil painting until 1810. During these years he worked in Glasgow , Arran and Argyllshire as well as on the east coast of Scotland .

Glen Coe in Scotland

Between 1816 and 1818 he went on an extensive study trip through Switzerland to Italy and Greece and the Greek islands . Back in Scotland he published a two-volume travelogue. His Views of Greece, exhibited in Edinburgh in 1822, from which his nickname 'Grecian' can be traced, were received with great enthusiasm. In 1829 two more graphic works with his landscapes were published.

In 1824 he was elected a member ( Fellow ) of the Royal Society of Edinburgh .

literature

Marcus Halliwell: Highland Landscapes - Paintings of Scotland in the 19th Century. Garamond Publishers Ltd, London, 1990, ISBN 1-85583-001-9 , p. 62.
James Lewis Caw: Williams, Hugh William . In: Sidney Lee (Ed.): Dictionary of National Biography . Volume 61: Whichcord - Williams. , MacMillan & Co, Smith, Elder & Co., New York City / London 1900, pp. 407 - 408 (English).
JL Caw: Williams, Hugh William [Grecian Williams] (1773-1829). In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Harrison (Eds.): Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , from the earliest times to the year 2000 (ODNB). Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861411-X , ( oxforddnb.com license required ), as of 2004 (rev. Mungo Campbell, not viewed).

Web links

Commons : Hugh William Williams - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

^ Fellows Directory. Biographical Index: Former RSE Fellows 1783–2002. (PDF file) Royal Society of Edinburgh, accessed April 23, 2020 .

personal data
SURNAME	Williams, Hugh William
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Williams, Hugh Grecian
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Scottish landscape painter
DATE OF BIRTH	1773
DATE OF DEATH	June 3, 1829
Place of death	Edinburgh

[1] Fellows Directory. Biographical Index: Former RSE Fellows 1783–2002. (PDF file) Royal Society of Edinburgh, accessed April 23, 2020 .