The Life of Sir David Wilkie 3 Volume Set
With his Journals, Tours, and Critical Remarks on Works of Art

This 1843 three-volume biography of the painter Sir David Wilkie remains an indispensable source for his life and works.

Allan Cunningham (Author)

9781108078955, Cambridge University Press

Multiple-component retail product, published 26 March 2015

1594 pages, 1 b/w illus.
21.8 x 14.2 x 9.7 cm, 2.01 kg

Sir David Wilkie (1785–1841) is often called the first truly international British artist. This three-volume biography, published in 1843, two years after Wilkie's sudden death while on a tour of the Mediterranean, and containing extracts from his journals and letters, remains an indispensable source for his life and works. Born in Scotland, Wilkie became a student at the Royal Academy in 1805, and in the following years the uncompromising realism of his scenes from rural life made his name known and attracted royal patronage: he was appointed 'the King's Limner in Scotland' by George IV. Travels in Europe and the Middle East enabled the study both of Old Masters and of the landscapes which had inspired them. This work was compiled by his friend, the poet and critic Allan Cunningham (1784–1842), who himself died shortly after correcting the proofs: it was seen through the press by his son.

Volume 1: Preface
1. Birth and parentage
2. The first impulse for art
3. Returns to cults
4. His first London lodging
5. Kindness of Mr Angerstein
6. Paints 'The Card Players'
7. Wilkie at Southampton
8. Wilkie in Devonshire
9. Wilkie paints 'The Wardrobe Ransacked'
10. Cults
11. Journal of a tour to Paris
12. 'Distraining for Rent'. Volume 2: 1. Receives the freedom of Cupar
2. Exhibits 'The Reading of the Will'
3. Paints 'The Parish Beadle'
4. Death of Mrs Wilkie
5. Rome
6. Rome (cont.)
7. Padua, Parma, and Venice
8. Wilkie tries the waters at Töplitz
9. Public dinner given by the Scottish artists
10. Geneva
11. Wilkie in Spain
12. Madrid and Seville. Volume 3: 1. Letters
2. Letters (cont.)
3. Wilkie completes his picture of 'John Knox preaching'
4. Wilkie in Scotland
5. Remarks on painting
6. Wilkie removes to Kensington
7. Royal Academy exhibition of 1838
8. Wilkie at the Hague, etc.
9. Wilkie at Constantinople, etc.
10. Wilkie at Jaffa and Jerusalem
11. Wilkie at Jerusalem
12. Conclusion
Appendices.

Subject Areas: The arts: general issues [AB]