William Allan

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William Allan

Sir William Allan RA (* 1782 in Edinburgh ; † February 23, 1850 Edinburgh) was a Scottish draftsman and painter.

Life

Allan, who grew up in Edinburgh as the son of a civil servant, completed an apprenticeship with the coach painter Crichton there. He then studied together with David Wilkie (1785-1841), James M. Burnet (1788-1816) and Alexander Fraser (1786-1865) in Edinburgh at Trustee's Academy with John Graham . Around 1800 he went to London, where he possibly studied at the Royal Academy of Arts . The first exhibitions ended in failure, after which he traveled to Saint Petersburg in 1805 , but ended up in Memel due to a near shipwreck . There he painted some portraits and made contacts. In St. Petersburg he turned to Sir Alexander Crichton , the brother of one of his Edinburgh patrons, Colonel Crichton. This was the personal physician of the tsar with excellent connections to society, which helped him to get some portrait commissions and Crichton sponsored him.

Bashkirs , Hermitage , (1814)

Allan learned Russian and made trips to the Black Sea coast , the Crimea and as far as the settlement areas of the Tatars , Circassians and Turks . He made sketches in which he captured the exotic surroundings and collected the weapons and costumes there.

In 1809 he sent his painting Russian Peasants keeping their Holiday to the annual exhibition of the Royal Academy in London. Since his picture was not well received, he did not take part in the exhibitions there for a long time. His return to England, planned for 1812, was prevented by the invasion of Napoleon and the outbreak of war , so that he could not settle back in his hometown Edinburgh until 1814, where he opened his own studio.

There he turned his sketches into exotic paintings, e. B. 1816 The Sale of Circassian Captives to a Turkish Bashaw, made famous by an engraving by James S. Stewart (1791–1863). With his exotic motifs he achieved attention but little recognition, and only the support of Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832), with whom he had become friends, helped him to some success.

Probably at the suggestion of Scott, he turned to history painting and painted scenes from his novels as well as episodes from Scottish history, which were also sold successfully.

From 1826 to 1844 Allan was appointed teacher at Trustee's School in Edinburgh and as an associate at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, of which he was a member from 1825. There he also gave evening courses from 1832, and in 1835 he became a full member of the Academy. He was appointed President of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1837 and knighted in 1842.

Since 1829 he made new trips to Italy, Greece and Turkey. On his return in 1830, pictures based on local motifs such as the painting Slave Market ( copy by William Giller) were created. 1841 was made a new trip to St. Petersburg, as well as 1844/1845, where he the Tsar was commissioned a painting of motive Peter the Great teaching his Subjects the Art of Shipbuilding (Peter the Great taught his subjects the art of shipbuilding) to to paint.

Allan's importance as a painter is primarily based on the introduction of exotic motifs, his early stimulating effect on Scottish history painting and his activity as a teacher. He had numerous successful students, including William Bell Scott , George Harvey , James Drummond , Erskine Nicol , John Crawford Wintour , Thomas Duncan and John Adam Houston .

From June 30th to October 6th, 2001, the City Art Center in Edinburgh organized an exhibition entitled “Sir William Allan: artist, adventurer” (for catalog see literature).

Paintings (selection)

Drawings and watercolors, sketches

  • Portrait William Bewick. Chalk, 1824, National Portrait Gallery

Works by William Allan are in the British Museum, London, Department of Prints and Drawings; at the Art Gallery Aberdeen and the Scottish National Gallery .

literature

  • Allan, Sir William . In: Ulrich Thieme , Felix Becker (Hrsg.): General Lexicon of Fine Artists from Antiquity to the Present . Founded by Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker. tape 1 : Aa – Antonio de Miraguel . Wilhelm Engelmann, Leipzig 1907, p. 300-301 ( Text Archive - Internet Archive ).
  • William Allan . In: General Artist Lexicon . The visual artists of all times and peoples (AKL). Volume 2, Seemann, Leipzig 1986, ISBN 3-363-00115-0 , p. 442ff.
  • Richard Redgrave, Samuel Redgrave: A century of British painters. Oxford 1947. Reprint 1981.
  • Esme Gordon: The Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture & Architecture 1826–1976. Edinburgh 1976.
  • Frank Lewis: A dictionary of British historical painters. Leigh-on-Sea 1979.
  • Roisin A. Kennedy: The subject paintings of Sir William Allan (1782-1850). University of Edinburgh, 1994.
  • Jeremy Howard: William Allan: artist adventurer. With contributions by John Morrison, Sara Stevenson and Andrzej Szczerski. City of Edinburgh Museums and Galleries, Edinburgh 2001.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ hermitagemuseum.org
  2. ^ Royal Academy of Arts: database entry , accessed April 10, 2013

Web links

Commons : William Allan  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files
personal data
SURNAME Allan, William
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Allan, Sir William (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Scottish draftsman and painter
DATE OF BIRTH 1782
PLACE OF BIRTH Edinburgh
DATE OF DEATH February 23, 1850
Place of death Edinburgh