Sir Thomas Lawrence portrait of William Wilberforce

William Wilberforce

by Sir Thomas Lawrence
oil on canvas, 1828
38 in. x 43 in. (965 mm x 1092 mm)

Self portrait, oil on canvas 1788

Sir Thomas Lawrence PRA FRS (13 April 1769 – 7 January 1830) was a leading English portrait painter and president of the Royal Academy.Lawrence was a child prodigy. He was born in Bristol and began drawing in Devizes, where his father was an innkeeper. At the age of ten, having moved to Bath, he was supporting his family with his pastel portraits. At eighteen he went to London and soon established his reputation as a portrait painter in oils, receiving his first royal commission, a portrait of Queen Charlotte, in 1790. He stayed at the top of his profession until his death, aged 60, in 1830. Self-taught, he was a brilliant draughtsman and known for his gift of capturing a likeness, as well as his virtuoso handling of paint. He became an associate of the Royal Academy in 1791, a full member in 1794, and president in 1820. In 1810 he acquired the generous patronage of the Prince Regent, was sent abroad to paint portraits of allied leaders for the Waterloo chamber at Windsor Castle, and is particularly remembered as the Romantic portraitist of the Regency. Lawrence's love affairs were not happy (his tortuous relationships with Sally and Maria Siddons became the subject of several books) and, in spite of his success, he spent most of life deep in debt. He never married. At his death, Lawrence was the most fashionable portrait painter in Europe. His reputation waned during Victorian times, but has been partially restored in more recent ones.

source:wikipedia

William Wilberforce (24 August 1759 – 29 July 1833) was a British politician, philanthropist, and a leader of the movement to abolish theslave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becoming the independentMember of Parliament for Yorkshire (1784–1812). In 1785, he underwent a conversion experience and became an evangelical Christian, resulting in major changes to his lifestyle and a lifelong concern for reform. In 1787, he came into contact with Thomas Clarkson and a group of anti-slave-trade activists, including Granville Sharp, Hannah More and Charles Middleton. They persuaded Wilberforce to take on the cause of abolition, and he soon became one of the leading English abolitionists. He headed the parliamentary campaign against the British slave trade for twenty-six years until the passage of the Slave Trade Act of 1807.

Wilberforce was convinced of the importance of religion, morality and education. He championed causes and campaigns such as theSociety for Suppression of Vice, British missionary work in India, the creation of a free colony in Sierra Leone, the foundation of theChurch Mission Society, and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. His underlying conservatism led him to support politically and socially repressive legislation, and resulted in criticism that he was ignoring injustices at home while campaigning for the enslaved abroad.

In later years, Wilberforce supported the campaign for the complete abolition of slavery, and continued his involvement after 1826, when he resigned from Parliament because of his failing health. That campaign led to the Slavery Abolition Act 1833, which abolished slavery in most of the British Empire; Wilberforce died just three days after hearing that the passage of the Act through Parliament was assured. He was buried in Westminster Abbey, close to his friend William Pit

source: wikipedia

Benjamin Robert Haydon

Benjamin Robert Haydon (26 January 1786 – 22 June 1846) was an English historical painter and writer.

The Anti-Slavery Society Convention, 1840

by Benjamin Robert Haydon
oil on canvas, 1841
117 in. x 151 in. (2972 mm x 3836 mm)
Given by British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, 1880

In 1787 a small, mainly Quaker group led by Thomas Clarkson (1760-1846) formed The Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade. Their cause seemed hopeless as slavery was crucial to Britain's economy but popular feeling was on their side. The French Revolution and the backlash against British Radicalism temporarily stalled the campaign for anti-slavery campaign. The Society's Parliamentary spokesman William Wilberforcefinally oversaw the triumphant passing of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act in 1807. The Great Reform Act of 1832 swept away many of the old pro-slavery MPs and the final emancipation of slaves in British colonies was effected in 1833. This monumental painting records the 1840 convention of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society which was established to promote worldwide abolition. A frail and elderly Clarkson addresses a meeting of over 500 delegates. Identifiable portraits include the liberated slave Henry Beckford (b. c. 1809), in the foreground, the Irish Radical Daniel O'Connell (1775-1847) and the prison reformer Elizabeth Fry (1780-1845). Haydon later wrote: 'a liberated slave, now a delegate, is looking up to Clarkson with deep interest … this is the point of interest in the picture, and illustrative of the object in painting it, the African sitting by the intellectual European, in equality and intelligence'.

Charcoal and chalk on paper, 54 × 76,2 cm

Punch or Mayday
oil on canvas, 1505 x 1801mm, 1829

Haydon was an enthusiastic Londoner. He wanted to catch the city’s fizz and energy in this picture, as well as the enduring traditions of ‘Old England’ such as the festivities of May Day. A crowd of mixed classes, ages and races mingles with a costumed procession and a Punch and Judy show in the Marylebone Road.Haydon thought of calling the picture simply Life. But he included an ironic comment on English philistinism: an Italian selling casts and statues but finding few buyers. Haydon, a history painter by preference, believed his own art was under-appreciated.