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Orchardson, William Quiller, Sir, HRSA

1832 – 1910

vide RSA Annual Report 1910, Notice XI; "A native of Edinburgh, born in the earlier 'thirties of last century, Sir Wm. Quiller Orchardson, RA, has undoubtedly achieved the widest reputation of the young men of talent who received their art training under Scott Lauder. The senior, by some years, of the majority of the group, Orchardson had already exhibited more than once at the Scottish Academy before Lauder's appointment to the mastership of the Trustees' Academy, and his earlier pictures, of which "Wishart's last Exhortation" (1853) was the most notable, show both in technique and design, an earleir influence. Continuing his studies under the new master, Orchardson shared in the keener perception and more naturalistic rendering of colour, which characterised Lauder's pupils, and before the close of the 'fifties he had already developed the strongly individual manner which distinguished his work to the end. Unlike his friend McTaggart his subjects during those years had mostly a literary source; Shakespeare, Scott, and Dickens furnishing his principal themes during the ten years 1853-63. In the latter year, with his fellow students Pettie and Tom Graham, Mr Orchardson took up his residence in London, where his pictures soon became a feature of the Annual Exhibitions of the Royal Academy, of which body he was elected an Associate in 1868, and Academician in 1877. Orchardson's subsequent career is well known to all interested in British Art. The lighter vein of fancy which suited his brush so well in such subjects as "The Queen of Swords" and "The Social Eddy" was broken in 1880 by "Napoleon on Bord the Bellerophon," followed during the succeeding years of that decade by "Voltaire," "The Salon of Madame Recamier" and other works which placed him in the first rank amongst living artists. All through his career Orchardson's subject-pictures were varied by portraiture, in which department he held an almost equally istinguished position. His portraits of Mrs Joseph, Mr H B Ferguson, and of Sir Walter Gilbey, will rank with the best of the century. Mr orchardson was one of the few British painters who have been honoured by having his portrait, by his own hand, added to the historic collection in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence, and a somewhat tardy recognition of his genius was made in the bestowal of a knighthood in 1907. Though so long settled in the South, Orchardson never lost interest in the Art of his native land. In 1871 he was elected an Honorary Member of the Royal Scottish Academy, and most of his more notable pictures have been seen in its Annual Exhibitions. He died on 13th April at his residence, 13 Portland Place.

Works in which this creator appears



An image from the RSA collection.