Abstract: Born in Bishopsgate, London, in August 1823. His father, Michael Solomon, was the first Jewish person to be admitted to the freedom of the city of London. At the age of thirteen he became a student at the Sass School of Art and three years later he was admitted to the Royal Academy. Abraham Solomon continued to be a popular artist until his death from heart disease in 1862.

Abstract: Son of a poet, was born in Edinburgh on 2nd October, 1713, at thirteen he entered Edinburgh High School where he excelled at languages. In 1729 he entered the recently established Academy of St Luke in Edinburgh followed by a period as pupil in London to the Swedish portrait painter, Hans Hysing. In 1767 Ramsay was appointed as Principal Painter to the king. An accident in 1773, where he badly hurt his right arm when falling from a ladder, forced him to retire from painting. Allan Ramsay died on 10th August 1784.

Brief biography of the Gothic Revivalist includes descriptions of his major works.

Brief biographical sketch of the 19th Century painter.

Cartoonist noted for strong conservative political views. (1861-1945)

Exerpt from book about the humourist and artist available from Amazon.com.

Exerpt from book about the 19th Century painter and photographer.

Journalist's biography and bibliography including comments on each work.

Brief biography of the artist's life and work. Includes his Pre-Raphaelite picture 'Work'.

Biography of political cartoonist who pioneered what became known as "picture politics".

Biography and bibliography of "social realist" painter including comments on each work.

Abstract: Son of a jeweller born in 1840. After a brief education at the North London Collegiate School, Walker found employment in an architect's office. In 1863 he exhibited his first oil paintings at the Royal Academy. By 1872 Walker, whose paintings showed a deep concern for the under-privileged, was acknowledged as the leader of what became known as the social realist school of painting. Frederick Walker suffered from poor health throughout his life and died, aged thirty-five, in 1875. Includes commentaries by contemporaries.

Abstract: Born in London on 27th September, 1792 to a caricaturist who died as a result of his alcoholism in 1811. After a brief education he set himself up as a caricaturist and was soon selling his drawings to over twenty different printsellers. Like many artists, Cruikshank was unhappy about the changes that had resulted from the Industrial Revolution. Cruikshank also became involved in the movement to protect children and published several books on the subject including A Slice of Bread and Butter (1857) and Our Gutter Children (1869). George Cruikshank died on 1st February, 1878.

Abstract: Born in Mainburg, Bavaria on 23rd April, 1788. After studying art painting and lithography in Munich, he soon found work producing lithographs for printers. In 1816, Scarf decided to emigrate to England. In the 1840s Scharf tended to concentrate on scientific work. His main clients were doctors, naturalists and the Royal College of Surgeons. Scharf's health began to deteriorate in the early 1850s. Unable to work, his last years were dominated by money problems. George Scharf died on 11th November, 1860.

Abstract: Born at Killingbeck Hall, Seacroft, on 8th May 1781. Educated in York, he became an artist. He developed a reputation as a good artist and in 1814 and a local bookseller commissioned a series of paintings for the book Costume of Yorkshire. The book included the first ever painting of a locomotive. In 1824 he travelled to Italy where he spent time in Naples, Rome and Florence. He also visited Switzerland and France. He spent the rest of his life at Killingbeck Lodge, Seacroft. He died there in 1856.

Abstract: Born in Strasbourg in 1832, he became a book illustrator in Paris and his commissions included work by Rabelais, Balzac and Dante. In 1853 he was asked to illustrate the works of Lord Byron. This was followed by other work for British publishers including a new illustrated English Bible. Dore's later work included Paradise Lost, The Idylls of the King and The Works of Thomas Hood. His work also appeared in the Illustrated London News. Dore continued to illustrate books until his death in 1883.

Abstract: Son of an engineer, born in Wexford, Ireland, in 1854 he worked as an artist in Ireland but in 1876 he moved to England and found work with the Illustrated London News. Over the next eight years he developed a reputation as an outstanding draughtsman. His work became extremely popular with the British public and this enabled him to tour the country giving lectures on subjects such as The Frightfulness of Humour and Humours of Parliament. In 1894 he started his own cartoon magazine, Like Joka. The magazine was not a financial success and he moved to the USA where he worked in the film industry with Thomas Edison. In 1914 Furniss helped pioneer the animated cartoon film. Harry Furniss died in 1925.

Abstract: Born in Germany in 1849 his family moved to England and in 1857 settled in Southampton. Herkomer studied at Southampton School of Art, the Munich Academy and the South Kensington Art School. He left Kensington Art School and 1867 and started a career as a book and magazine illustrator. In 1880s he concentrated on the financially lucrative area of portraiture. He opened his own art school and during the period 1883 and 1904, trained over 500 students. Herkomer also served as Slade Professor of Art between 1885 and 1895. Hubert von Herkomer, who was knighted in 1907, died in 1914.

Abstract: Son of a customs house officer, born in Edinburgh on 5th October, 1764, he worked as an etcher in Edinburgh but at the age of twenty-one he moved to London. At first he found employment illustrating cheap books and chapbooks. In the 1790s he developed a reputation as an outstanding artist and was in great demand as a printmaker. Cruikshank had ambitions to become a serious artist and had two paintings accepted by the Royal Academy. He died in April, 1811..

Abstract: Son of a barber and wigmaker, born in London in 1775, as a child he made money by colouring engravings for his father's customers. At the age of 14 he entered the Royal Academy and exhibited his first drawing, A View of the Archbishop's Palace in Lambeth in 1790. By 1800 Turner was acknowledged as one of Britain's leading topographical watercolourist. He died at his cottage in Chelsea in 1851. He left some three hundred paintings and nineteen thousand watercolours to the nation.

Exerpt from book about the caricaturist.

Brief history of the 19th Century artist.

Brief notes on the English architect of the Picturesque movement.

Brief biography of the Leeds born Victorian artist.

Lithograph artist who produced the book, Drawings of the London and Birmingham Railway. Includes illustration. (1814-1896)

Brief biographical sketch of the 19th Century lithographer, caricaturist and political commentator. Grandfather to Arthur Conan Doyle.

Brief biographical sketch of illustrator and political cartoonist of the 19th Century.

Brief biographical sketch of the former staff cartoonist with Punch magazine. Best known for his illustrations for Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking Glass (1872).

Abstract: Born the son of a clergyman, near Plymouth in 1723, he was sent to London to study art in 1740. After a period in Rome (1749-52), Reynolds returned to England where he established himself as one of country's leading portrait painters. When the Royal Academy was established in 1768, he was elected its first president. The following year he was knighted and in 1784 was appointed as painter to George III. He died in 1792.

Abstract: Born in London in 1844, he was apprenticed as a draughtsman in a marine engineering works in Greenwich at the age of 16. As a young man Sambourne had been a supporter of the Liberal Party but as he grew older he moved to the right. By the time he was in his fifties, Sambourne was described as more "conservative than the Conservative Party. He is best known for the illustrations that he did for Charles Kingsley's Water Babies and Hans Christian Andersen's Fairly Tales. He died in 1910.

Abstract: Born in Liverpool in 1843. Fildes shared his grandmother's concern for the poor and in 1869 joined the staff of the Graphic magazine, edited by the social reformer, William Luson Thomas. Fildes soon became a popular artist and by 1870 he had given up working from the Graphic and had turned his full attention to oil painting and soon became one of the most successful artists in England. By 1900 Fildes was the most highly paid portrait painter in England. Knighted in 1906, he died in 1918.

Abstract: Born near Leeds in 1864. Orphaned at the age of nine, he endured several years of poverty moving from one job to another and ended up begging on the streets. May was a talented artist and he eventually discovered he could make a living by drawing stage celebrities and selling the pictures to theatre fans. His cartoons were rarely overtly political, and had a deep sympathy for the poor. He brought a new simplicity of line to popular cartooning. He was a heavy drinker. This and his early poverty caused him serious health problems. He suffered from a wasting disease and when he died in 1903, aged thirty-nine, he weighed only five stone.

Abstract: Born in London in 1792. Like his father, he became an architect and the buildings he designed included the hall and library of Lincoln's Inn, Euston Railway Station, Goldsmiths' Hall and Limerick Cathedral. Philip Hardwick died in 1870.

Abstract: Son of a cartoonist, born in London in in 1824 and educated at home by his father he began having work published at the age of fifteen. Doyle, like his father, was a devout Roman Catholic, and in 1850 he resigned from Punch Magazine in protest over the magazine's hostility to the Pope. John Murray, the publisher of the Quarterly Magazine, later claimed that Wiseman, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church in England, had forced Doyle to resign under the threat of excommunication. He died in 1883.

Abstract: Viscount Folkestone and Lord Romney, founded the Society of Arts in 1754. The main objective of the society was to promote the arts, productivity and trade. It was the first organisation ever set up in Britain to benefit art and science. By 1762 there were already 2,500 members or fellows of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA). It 1760 it held the first ever public exhibition for a group of artists. In 1851 the society was responsible for the Great Exhibition.

Brief history of the lithographer and magazine publisher.

Brief history of the 19th Century architect.

Short biography of the astronomer, scientist and architect who designed and built St. Paul's Cathedral.

Brief biographical sketch of the 19th century architect.

Brief biographical sketch of the 18th Century architect.

Abstract: The first president, Joshua Reynolds, established it as a school to train artists in drawing, painting, sculpture and architecture. The Royal Academy also gave an opportunity for artists to exhibit and sell their work at an annual Summer Exhibition. The work displayed is chosen by the Royal Academy Selection Committee. The Summer Exhibition held from May to August, became an important feature of the national and international art world.

Artist who produced a series of paintings of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. Includes illustration of the Liverpool Crown Street Station. (1811-1877)

Portraitist (1727-1788) who developed the theme of group portraits set in a realistic landscape.

Royal painter, knighted in 1815, and past president of the Royal Academy (1769-1830).

Abstract: Son of a successful businessman, born in London in July 1756, he attended Eton and the Royal Academy. In 1777 he opened a studio in Wardour Street where he established himself as a portrait painter. He often had his work published in journals such as the English Review and The Poetical Magazine as well illustrated books and drew cartoons. As a result of the Peterloo Massacre, he drew one of his most overtly political drawings. He died on 22nd April 1827.

Abstract: Born in Liverpool in 1845 to a moderately successful artist. In the 1860s Crane began to take an active interest in politics as a supporter of the Liberal Party. His reputation as an artist grew and he was recognised as a talented book illustrator. In 1898 Crane was appointed head of the Royal College of Art. In December 1914 Crane's wife Mary was killed by a train. The couple had been married for forty-four years and Crane was devastated by her death, dieing three months later in Horsham Hospital, on 14th March, 1915. Includes quotes and comments by contemporaries.

Abstract: The ninth of eleven children, was born in Australia in 1880. He became a regular contributor to the Sydney Bulletin, with conservative politicians being the main target for his satire. In 1909 Dyson moved to London and immediately found work with the Weekly Dispatch. Dyson joined the army durign World War I and despite being wounded twice, he produced a large number of drawings of Australian soldiers in battle. In 1919, his wife died, a victim of the influenza pandemic that swept the world after the war. Devastated, he suffered a mental breakdown. He died on 21st January, 1938. Includes commentaries by contemportaries.

Abstract: Son of a draper from Westminster, he was born on 28th November, 1757. After marrying Catherine Boucher on 18th August 1782, Blake became a freelance engraver. The first of his illuminated works, Natural Religion, appeared in 1788. An exhibition of Blake's work at the Royal Academy in 1809 failed to attract any significant interest and he sank into obscurity. William Blake died in 1827 and was buried in an unmarked grave at Bunhill Fields.

Abstract: Son of a Latin teacher born in Smithfield, London, in 1697. By 1720 he had his own business engraving book plates and painting portraits. In 1726 he published The Punishments of Lemuel Gulliver, a satire on the prime minister, Robert Walpole. In 1735 Hogarth manages to persuade his friends in Parliament to pass the Engravers' Copyright Act. Later that year, Hogarth established St. Martin's Lane Academy, a guild for professional artists and a school for young artists. In July 1763 he had a paralytic seizure but recoverd. He died on 25th October, 1764.

Abstract: Born in Yorkshire in 1684, he studied painting in Rome (1709-19) and played an important role in introducing the Palladian style of architecture into Britain. He was a versatile designer. His work included the interiors of Burlington House and Chiswick House, the gardens at Stowe House in Buckinghamshire and the Gothic screens at Westminster Hall and Gloucester Cathedral. William Kent died in 1748.

Abstract: Son of domestic servants born in Alfield in 1819. After brief training in art at Saint Margaret's School, Dover, he attended the Henry Sass Academy in London. In 1845 he was appointed an associate of the Royal Academy and was made a full member in 1853. He died in 1909.

Illustrator of books about contemporary London costumes and daily life, he died while in jail for unpaid debts (1769-1843).