Francis Danby was an Irish painter of the Romantic era. His imaginative, dramatic landscapes were comparable to those of John Martin. Danby initially developed his imaginative style while he was the central figure in a group of artists who have come to be known as the Bristol School.
Background
Francis Danby was born on the 16th of November, 1793 in the south of Ireland, he was one of a set of twins; his father, James Danby, farmed a small property he owned near Wexford, but his death, in 1807, caused the family to move to Dublin, while Francis was still a schoolboy.
Education
He began to practice drawing at the Royal Dublin Society's schools; and under an erratic young artist named James Arthur O'Connor he began painting landscapes. Danby also made acquaintance with George Petrie.
Career
In 1813 Danby left for London together with O'Connor and Petrie. This expedition, undertaken with very inadequate funds, quickly came to an end, and they had to get home again by walking.
At Bristol they made a pause, and Danby, finding he could get trifling sums for water-colour drawings, remained there working diligently and sending to the London exhibitions pictures of importance. There his large pictures in oil quickly attracted attention. "The Upas Tree" (1820) and "The Delivery of the Israelites" (1825) brought him his election as an associate of the Royal Academy.
He left Bristol for London, and in 1828 exhibited his "Opening of the Sixth Seal" at the British Institution, receiving from that body a prize of 200 guineas; and this picture was followed by two others from the Apocalypse. He suddenly left London, declaring that he would never live there again, and that the Academy, instead of aiding him, had, somehow or other, used him badly.
Some insurmountable domestic difficulty overtook him also, and for eleven or twelve years he lived on the Lake of Geneva, a Bohemian with boat-building fancies, painting only now and then. He returned to England in 1841. Other pictures by him were "The Golden Age " and "The Evening Gun, " the first begun before he left England, the second painted after his return; he had taken up his abode at Exmouth.
Achievements
Membership
He was a Member of the Royal Academy.
Personality
Francis Danby was a man of many good qualities, warm in his attachments, kind and helpful to young artists.
Connections
Both of Danby's sons were landscape painters. The elder son, James, exhibited at the Royal Academy. The younger son specialised in watercolors of Welsh scenes.