Letters, papers and artworks of the painter and draughtsman William Mulready (1786-1863)

Letters, papers and artworks of the painter and draughtsman William Mulready (1786-1863).

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William Mulready was born in Ennis in Ireland, but settled in England as a child. He was educated at the Royal Academy Schools from 1800 to 1804, where he won a silver medal. From 1805 to 1812 he earned a living as an illustrator of children's books and did further book illustration in later life. Influenced by Adriaen van Oestade and Pieter de Hooch, he was known for his depictions of cottage scenes. His interest in childhood and education as subject matter for his paintings was an influence on the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Mulready first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1804 and was elected a Royal Academician twelve years later. He became the Visitor of the Royal Academy and believed that life classes were an important part of art education. A retrospective exhibition was held at the Society of Arts in 1848. William Mulready died in 1863. The most recent biography is Kathryn Moore Heleniak's `William Mulready' (New Haven and London, 1980), which includes a catalogue raisonné. Earlier books include Theophilus Marcliffe [William Godwin] `The Looking Glass: A True History of the Early Years of an Artist' (1805), Frederic G. Stephens, `Masterpieces of Mulready; Memorials of William Mulready' (1867, revised edn. 1890), and James Dafforne, `Pictures by William Mulready, RA: With Descriptions and a Biographical Sketch of the Painter' (1872).