Wheatley, Francis

Wheatley, Francis (1747–1801), painter. Born in London, he was trained at William Shipley's academy, winning prizes from the Society of Artists in the early 1760s. He made a short visit to Ireland in 1767. In 1769 he enrolled at the Royal Academy Schools. His early work comprised mainly small‐scale portraits, conversation pieces, and a few landscapes. He collaborated with John Hamilton Mortimer on the decoration of a ceiling at Brocket Hall, Hertfordshire (1771–3). In 1779 he fled to Dublin to escape his creditors and immediately received commissions for small whole‐length portraits. His main achievement in Ireland was to paint a number of Volunteer subjects. In 1780 he completed View of College Green with a Meeting of the Volunteers, and The Irish House of Commons. He also painted the Review of the Irish Volunteers in the Phoenix Park (1781) and Review in Belan Park, Co. Kildare, as well as drawings of Irish country estates. In 1783 he returned to London carrying with him sketches of Irish subjects which resulted in Donnybrook Fair and other items exhibited in 1784. He worked for the London print publisher John Boydell, and it was the work that Boydell engraved, such as illustrations to literature and the Cries of London, which established Wheatley's reputation. He also painted portraits, landscapes, and history subjects. He became a member of the Royal Academy in 1791 and died in 1801 after a long illness.

John Turpin