Thomas Hickey (1741–1824) was anIrishpainter.

Born inDublin, Hickey was the son of Noah, a confectioner inCapel Street, and Anne Hickey. A younger brother wasJohn Hickey, the sculptor. He was trained at theRoyal Dublin Society schools under Robert West.^[1]

Hickey painted primarily portraits and genre scenes. He traveled widely, working inIndia,Portugal,Italy andEngland, residing inBath between 1776 and 1780. On his voyage to India, the vessel in which he was travelling was captured by French and Spanish fleets which led him toLisbon, where, after receiving a number of commissions, he remained for several years. He eventually reachedBengal and stayed there until 1791 when he returned to England.^[2] He then traveled as far asPeking,China withGeorge Macartney, 1st Earl Macartney asthe expedition's official portrait painter.^[3]

He returned to Ireland shortly after the death of his brother John in January 1796. In 1797, he was commissioned by Dr. Robert Emmet, State Physician for Ireland, to paint a portrait of the doctor's son,Robert, and daughter,Mary. By 1798 he had returned to India where he landed just in time for the start of theFourth Mysore War, which kept him engaged in painting. In Mysore he was commissioned to make a number of sketches depicting family members of Mysore's rulerTipu Sultan. Portraits of Tipu's sons, uncle and subaider are amongst these sketches. These portrait sketches were drawn between 1799 and 1801 inSrirangapatna and Vellore. He resided inMadras until his death in 1824.^[4]

In addition to his artistic talents, he is reputed to have been a sparkling conversationalist who rarely failed to charm his sitters. TheCourtauld Institute of Art (London), theHonolulu Museum of Art, theNational Gallery of Ireland, theTate and the Victoria Art Gallery (Bath, England) are among the public collections having paintings by Thomas Hickey.^[5]A number of his sketches can still be seen inSrirangapattana at Daria Daulat Bagh.^[6]

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  Peter Rainier (1784-1836) in 1806, just after first being made captain at only 21 underEdward Pellew, painted in India by Thomas Hickey,National Maritime Museum
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  The ActressElizabeth Younge with Bust ofShakespeare, oil on canvas painting by Thomas Hickey, 1774,Honolulu Museum of Art. A niche with a bust ofShakespeare in the left upper corner is not visible in this photograph.
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  Portrait ofDavid de Pury by Thomas Hickey
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  Thomas Hickey, Madras: Abbé J.A. Dubois. French missionary Jean-Antoine Dubois (1766-1848)
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  A painting ofPurnaiah, the firstdewan of Mysore and a chief military strategist and commander forTipu during theAnglo-Mysore wars

• ArtCyclopedia

• 1741 births
• 1824 deaths
• 18th-century Irish painters
• 18th-century Irish male artists
• 19th-century Irish painters
• Irish male painters
• Painters from Dublin (city)
• 19th-century Irish male artists

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