James Saxon (1772 – in or after 1819)[1] was an English portrait painter.
Life
editBorn in Manchester, he was son of John Saxon. He entered Manchester grammar school in January 1783. In 1797, he was in practice as a portrait-painter at 4 York Street, Manchester; shortly afterwards, he moved to London. He visited Scotland in 1805.[2]
Saxon later went to St. Petersburg, where he practised successfully for several years. On his return, he spent a short time in Glasgow, when he painted a portrait of David Hamilton the architect. He finally settled again in London, where he died.[2]
Works
edit
Saxon's portraits show the influence of John Opie. He exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1795 and 1796, and a total of 17 portraits by 1817.[2]
The portrait of John Clerk of Eldin from 1805 has a background showing a system of naval evolution conceived by Clerk, by William Anderson (1757–1837); it went to the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. In the same year, he painted a portrait of Sir Walter Scott, which was engraved in stipple by James Heath, as an illustration to The Lady of the Lake (1810). A companion portrait (1810) of Lady Scott was engraved by George Baird Shaw for John Gibson Lockhart's Life of Scott.[2]
Notes
edit- ^ Howard, Jeremy. "Saxon, James". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/24758. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ a b c d Lee, Sidney, ed. (1897). . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 50. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
External links
edit- 4 artworks by or after James Saxon at the Art UK site
- Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Lee, Sidney, ed. (1897). "Saxon, James". Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 50. London: Smith, Elder & Co.