Thomas Uwins

Thomas Uwins (24 February 1782, in London – 26 August 1857) was a British portrait, subject, genre and landscape painter in watercolour and oil, and a book illustrator. He became a full member of the Old Watercolour Society and a Royal Academician, and held a number of high-profile art appointments including the librarian of the Royal Academy, Surveyor of Pictures to Queen Victoria and the Keeper of the National Gallery.

Life and work Early years and training

Uwins was born at Hermes Hill, Pentonville in London. He was the youngest of the four children of Thomas Uwins, a clerk in the Bank of England. David Uwins (c. 1780-1837), physician and medical writer, was his elder brother. Thomas showed talent as an artist from an early age, and had some instruction from the drawing-master at his sister's school.

Life in Scotland In 1818 Uwins resigned from the Old watercolour society to concentrate on paying off a debt relating to a security given to the Society of Arts. Continual work on miniatures seriously injured his eyesight, and in 1820 he went to Scotland to make topographical drawings to illustrate works by Sir Walter Scott, with whom he became well acquainted. He spent two years in Edinburgh painting and drawing portraits with much success, and on the occasion of the visit of George IV to Edinburgh in 1822, he executed two transparencies, one of which was twelve feet high.

Seven years in Italy In 1824 Uwins travelled to Italy for his health. There he settled for the winter in Rome where he met a number of English artists, including Charles Eastlake and Joseph Severn. Uwins and Eastlake became close friends. Eastlake influenced Uwins in his technique, encouraging him to lighten his palette and to work on a larger scale. He also encouraged his friend to adopt similar themes to his own paintings. Uwin's subject matter began to include peasants and bandits in imitation of Eastlake.

The following spring he visited Naples and met Richard Acton who commissioned him to paint a number of Italian scenes. He remained in Naples for several years painting portraits of British and Austrian visitors. While in Italy he kept up a correspondence with his two brothers Zechariah and David, which was published after his death in A memoir of Thomas Uwins.

From 1829–30 Uwins sent his pictures of Italian subjects to the exhibitions of the British Institution and Royal Academy. In 1830 he exhibited "Neapolitans dancing the Tarantella", and, in 1832, The Neapolitan Saint Manufactury proved a great success in the RA exhibition. At about this time he returned to England and became gradually more involved in arts administration. He was elected an associate of the Royal Academy (ARA) in 1833, and a full academician (RA) in 1838.

Later work In 1839 he exhibited one of his best pictures, Le Chapeau de Brigand. The little girl depicted was a daughter of a friend named Joseph, with whom he lived for some time. By 1870 it was one of the most frequently copied paintings at the National Gallery. It is now also at Tate. In 1843 he painted a fresco of the lady in John Milton's 'Comus' for the Queen's Pavilion in Buckingham Palace Gardens. In 1844 he was made librarian of the Royal Academy, and Surveyor of pictures to Queen Victoria (completing the first catalogue raisonné of the Royal Collection), and from 1847–55, keeper of the National Gallery - succeeding Sir Charles Eastlake.

In 1850 he married Sarah Kirby, and though without issue, the union was said to be a happy one. In 1854 he had a serious illness, and in 1855 gave up his various offices and retired to Staines, in Middlesex, an invalid. He carried on painting, however, until his death on 26 August 1857.