William Mulready (1786-1863)

Born in Ennis, County Clare, into a poor family who emigrated to London when he was six, William Mulready remained sensitive about his humble origins and did his best to conceal his Irishness for the rest of his life. After studying drawing from sculpture for a year with the sculptor Thomas Banks, he attended the Royal Academy schools with great success, winning the silver palette of the Society of Arts in 1802. An early marriage, two years later, to the artist-sister of John Varley, (1778-1843) the English landscape painter, failed after six years, due to his tendency to violence and immoral conduct. (Interestingly, all four of his children, went on to become painters.)

Despite these p...