{"title":"Westall RA, Richard (1765–1836)","description":"\u003cp\u003eRichard Westall RA (1765–1836) was born at Reepham, Norfolk, the family residence being Kerdistone Manor. After his mother's death in 1770, his father was declared bankrupt, but soon remarried and moved to Hertford, where Richard's younger brother, the artist William Westall (1781–1850), was born. Following this period of difficulty, the young Richard moved to London, where in 1779 he became apprenticed to John Thompson, a heraldic engraver on silver; he also studied at an evening school run by Thomas Simpson. The Norfolk artist John Alefounder instructed Westall in the execution of miniatures and advised him to become a painter.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn 1784 he exhibited the first of 384 pictures at the Royal Academy. He was admitted as a student of the Academy Schools in the following year, became an associate of the academy in 1792, and was made a full academician in 1794. Around this time he began what was to be a life-long friendship with the artist Thomas Lawrence, the pair living together for several years.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWestall's paintings in watercolour garnered significant praise: Horace Walpole described the figure of Sappho in Sappho Chanting the Hymn of Love (exh. RA, 1796) as ‘beautiful beyond description’ and his Hesiod Instructing the Greeks (exh. RA, 1796) as ‘by far one of the finest compositions ever painted in England’. Joseph Farington recorded in his diary that ‘the King particularly dwelt on Westall's drawings and said he had never seen anything equal to them’. One of Westall’s champions was Richard Payne Knight, who became his patron and allegedly thought that Westall was as good as Raphael or Rubens. He praised Westall for showing characters 'from common familiar life'.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the 1790s Westall contributed to Boydell's Shakespeare Gallery and to Fuseli's Milton Gallery, beginning a prolific period providing literary illustrations which included Sir Walter Scott's novels, the works of Byron, William Cowper, James Thomson and Robert Burns. Byron even declared that Westall's illustrations for Don Juan were 'superb—the brush has beat the poetry’.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom around 1815 onwards Westall's reputation slowly declined. Almost bankrupt, for the last nine years of his life he worked as drawing master to Princess Victoria. Westall produced two albums of drawings for the purpose of copying by the young princess; these, along with Princess Victoria's watercolours and Westall's portrait of her can be seen in the Royal Collection.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"richard-westall-ra-st-paul-and-the-viper-original-1806-watercolour-painting-kb-495","title":"Richard Westall RA, St Paul and the Viper – Original 1806 watercolour painting","description":"\u003cp\u003eAn original 1806 watercolour painting, Richard Westall RA, St Paul and the Viper.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis superbly painted biblical scene, at small scale in watercolour, displays the rich detail for which Richard Westall RA (1769–1836) is celebrated. Within a sheet of just 13 x 10.5cm (5 x 4\"), Westall assembles nine finely modelled figures, centred around the dramatic encounter of Paul the Apostle with a venomous snake. The composition achieves a fullness of effect despite its small size, with the dramatic juxtaposition of light and dark, foreground detail and background atmosphere.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWestall is known for his historical, literary and biblical subjects; the story of Paul and the Snake is told in Acts 28 of the New Testament, recounting Paul's journey from his arrival in Malta to finally settling in Italy. Here, on the shore in Malta, the people of the island build a fire to welcome him, but a snake is forced out by the fire and ascends Paul's arm. The people believe that Paul is being punished—but when he is unharmed by the snake's poisonous bite he is proven good. Paul's survival of the bite can be seen as fulfilling the prophetic assurance of God’s protection over His apostles as they spread the gospel.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWestall's work in the late 18th century, encouraged by his chief patron, the taste-maker Richard Payne Knight, was innovative in helping to elevate the medium of watercolour closer to that of oil paintings. He used an intensity of colour and detail at a smaller, cheaper scale that appealed greatly to the market, and in 1795 Westall was pronounced in The St James’s Chronicle as 'the Founder of a particular School of Drawing in Water-Colours'.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWestall was a prolific book illustrator of both fiction and poetry. His commissions included works for John Boydell's Shakespeare Gallery and for Henry Fuseli's Milton Gallery, as well as illustrations to the works of Sir Walter Scott, Oliver Goldsmith, William Cowper, Thomas Gray and Byron. Byron greatly admired his work, stating of his illustrations that 'the brush has beat the poetry'; Westall painted several portraits of Byron. He also illustrated editions of the Bible, including one with John Martin.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn watercolour on card.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePlease note the small size of this artwork.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Somerset \u0026 Wood","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52021467218249,"sku":"KB-495","price":795.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0930\/4306\/5161\/files\/kb-495.jpg?v=1743520776"}],"url":"https:\/\/somersetandwood.com\/de-eu\/collections\/westall-ra-richard-1765-1836.oembed","provider":"Somerset \u0026 Wood Fine Art","version":"1.0","type":"link"}