Sir William Allan | |
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| Born | 1782 Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Died | 23 February 1850 (aged 67–68) Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Known for | Painting |
Sir William AllanRA (1782 – 23 February 1850) was a distinguished Scottish historical painter known for his scenes of Russian life. He became president of theRoyal Scottish Academy and was made aRoyal Academician.
Allan was born inEdinburgh, the son of William Allan Snr., macer, an officer of theCourt of Session. He was educated at theHigh School, Edinburgh, under William Nicol (1744?-1797), the companion ofRobert Burns. Showing an aptitude for art, he was apprenticed to a coach-painter, and studied underJohn Graham at theTrustees' Academy, withDavid Wilkie,John Burnet, andAlexander George Fraser.[1] Here Allan and Wilkie were placed at the same table, studied the same designs, and contracted a lifelong friendship.[2]
After a few years he came toLondon, and entered the schools of theRoyal Academy. His first exhibited picture was aGipsy Boy with an Ass (1803), in the style ofJohn Opie.
Not finding success in London,[2] in 1805 he travelled, by ship, toRussia, but was wrecked atMemel, where he raised funds for the remaining journey by painting portraits of the Dutch consul and others. He then proceeded overland toSt. Petersburg, passing through a great portion of the Russian army on its way toAusterlitz. At the Russian capital he found friends, including SirAlexander Crichton, physician to the imperial family. Having learned Russian, he travelled in the interior of the country, and spent several years inUkraine, making excursions toTurkey,Tartary, and elsewhere, studying the culture ofCossacks,Circassians, andTartars, and collecting arms and armour. In 1809 his pictureRussian Peasants keeping their Holiday was exhibited at the Royal Academy.
His wish to return home in 1812 had to be postponed due to theFrench invasion of Russia, many of the horrors of which he witnessed first-hand.[1]
Allan was able to return to Edinburgh in 1814, and, in 1815, his pictureCircassian Captives attracted notice at the Royal Academy, though it did not find a purchaser. However, SirWalter Scott,John Wilson (1785–1854) and his brotherJames (1795–1856),John Lockhart, and others, raised a lottery for it, with 100 subscribers at £10 10s. each, and the picture was won byFrancis Wemyss-Charteris, 9th Earl of Wemyss. Allan remained in Edinburgh, and though his pictures (includingTartar Robbers dividing their Spoil) did not find purchasers amongst his countrymen, some of them were bought by theGrand Duke Nicholas when he visited Edinburgh, which resulted in a turn of fortune for the artist.[3] Allan afterwards painted some scenes from Scottish history suggested by the novels of Sir Walter Scott, such asDeath of Archbishop Sharpe andKnox admonishing Mary Queen of Scots (exhibited in 1823 and engraved byJohn Burnet). Also of note wereMary Queen of Scots signing her Abdication (1824) andDeath of the Regent Murray (exhibited 1825), which was purchased by theDuke of Bedford for 800 guineas, and gained the artist his election as an associate of the Royal Academy.[3]
In 1826 Allan was appointed master of the Trustees' School, Edinburgh, an office which he held until a few years before his death.[1] Soon afterwards his health gave way, and he was threatened with blindness. To recuperate he went toRome, and, after spending a winter there, proceeded toNaples,Constantinople,Asia Minor, andGreece. In 1826 he exhibitedAuld Robin Gray and in 1829Prophet Jonah. In 1830 he returned to Edinburgh, restored to health. His pictureSlave Market, Constantinople was purchased by Alexander Hill, the publisher, andByron in a Fisherman's Hut after swimming the Hellespont (exhibited 1831) by R. Nasmyth, who also bought Allan's portraits of Burns and Sir Walter Scott, which were engraved by John Burnet.[1]
In 1832 Allan was living at 8 Scotland Street in Edinburgh'sNew Town.[4]
In 1834 he visitedSpain andMorocco, and in the same year he producedThe Orphan, which represented Scott's daughter Anne seated near the chair of her deceased father.[3] In 1835 he was elected a Royal Academician, and in 1838, on the death of SirGeorge Watson, was made president of the Royal Scottish Academy. In 1841 he went to St. Petersburg, and in the same year succeeded Wilkie aslimner to the queen in Scotland, an office which was, as usual, followed (in 1842) by a knighthood.[1][5]
Sir William's later years were occupied with battle-pieces.[3] In 1843 he exhibitedBattle of Waterloo from the English side, which was purchased by theDuke of Wellington. The next year he went again to St. Petersburg, where he painted, for the Czar,Peter the Great teaching his Subjects the Art of Shipbuilding, which was later exhibited in London. The last large work which he finished was a second view of the battle of Waterloo, this time from the French side. It was exhibited atWestminster Hall in 1846, in competition for the decorations of the Houses of Parliament, but was unsuccessful. He visited Germany and France in 1847.[1]
In his final years Sir William lived at 72 Great King Street, a substantial Georgian townhouse over five storeys, inEdinburgh's Second New Town.[6] He died ofBronchitis at his Edinburgh home on 23 February 1850.[7]
At the time of his death Sir William was engaged on a large picture of theBattle of Bannockburn.[1]
He is buried inDean Cemetery inEdinburgh against the north wall of the original cemetery backing onto the late Victorian extension.[citation needed]
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Attribution:
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Monkhouse, William Cosmo (1885). "Allan, William". InStephen, Leslie (ed.).Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 1. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Allan, Sir William".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 687–688.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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