WILLIAM ETTY RA (1787-1849) Biography

Provenance

Stanhope and Irene Shelton

Description / Expertise

Etty was born in York. He studied painting at the Royal Academy Schools and under Sir Thomas Lawrence. He travelled in Italy in 1821-3 for the purpose of studying Renaissance and Baroque painting; this proved an important formative influence on his own style. His subjects are generally mythological and his handling of paint is rich and free; he particularly revelled in the painting of nudes. He exhibited his large-scale works at the Royal Academy and British Institution; he had many followers and imitators, and influenced the course of figure painting throughout the Victorian era. He lived in London and later in his native city, York, where he died in 1849.