Danby, FRANCIS, A.R.A.

Danby, FRANCIS, A.R.A., landscape-painter, was born near Wexford, Ireland, 16th November 1793. In 1812 he began to exhibit in Dublin; in 1813, with O'Connor and George Petrie, afterwards president of the Hibernian Academy, he started for London, but at Bristol the means of the party were exhausted, and Danby resolved to settle in that city, where he resided till 1824. His 'Upas Tree,' a large and impressive work, now in the South Kensington Museum, was exhibited in the British Institution (1820); his 'Disappointed Love,' in the Academy (1821), as also his 'Delivery of the Israelites out of Egypt' (1825), which gained him his election as an associate. In 1828 his 'Opening of the Sixth Seal' won a premium of £200 at the British Institution; in the following year two other important subjects from the Apocalypse appeared in the Academy. At this time a disagreement arose between the artist and the Academy, which, along with other reasons, led to his leaving England. For eleven years he resided on the Continent, mainly in Switzerland, painting little, and amusing himself with boating. On his return to England, he took up his residence at Exmouth, and contributed very regularly to the Academy till his death on 9th February 1861. His 'Fisherman's House, Sunset' (1846), is now in the National Gallery. His works, of which several have been engraved, are distinguished by imagination and poetic feeling. His three sons, John, Thomas, and James Francis, were all landscape-painters. The last named was born at Bristol in 1816, and died in London, 22d October 1875.