Background
Catton was born in Norwich, Norfolk, in 1728, and said to be one of 35 children that his father had from his two marriages.
Catton was born in Norwich, Norfolk, in 1728, and said to be one of 35 children that his father had from his two marriages.
He was apprenticed to a London coach painter, or, according to some sources, a carpenter by the name of Maxwell, and studied drawing at the Saint Martin"s Lane Academy.
He was mainly known as a landscape and animal painter, but also had a good knowledge of the figure, and a talent for humorous design. In 1781, he published an etching called The Margate Packet. He was outstanding as a coach painter, producing ornamental panels for carriages, floral embellishments, and heraldic devices to the highest quality, eventually becoming coach-painter to George III. He exhibited at the Academy from its foundation until the year of his death.
He painted an altarpiece, The Angel delivering Saint Peter, for the church of Street Peter Mancroft in Norwich.
He retired from painting some years before his death. He died at his house in Judd Place, New Road, London, on 28 August 1798, and was buried in Bloomsbury cemetery.
He emigrated to the United States. Among Catton"s pupils was John Durand.
He became a member of the Society of Artists, and exhibited various pictures in its galleries in 1760-1764. He was a founding member of the Royal Academy, and, in 1784, was master of the Worshipful Company of Painter-Stainers.