Ozias Humphrey
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Ozias Humphry (or Humphrey) (1742-1810) was an English miniature painter of the 18th century, sufficiently notable to be elected to the Royal Academy in 1791.
Born and schooled in Honiton, Devon, Humphrey was attracted by the gallery of casts opened by the Duke of Richmond and came to London to study art at Shipley's school. He also studied art in Bath (under Samuel Collins, taking over his practice in 1762); in Bath, he lodged with Thomas Linley. As a young artist, his talent was encouraged by Thomas Gainsborough and Sir Joshua Reynolds, among others.
He travelled to Italy in 1773 with George Romney, stopping en route at Knole, near Sevenoaks in Kent, where the Duke of Dorset commissioned several works from him. His stay in Italy lasted until 1777.
On his return, his numerous subjects included George Stubbs (1777), fellow Academician Dominic Serres, and author Jane Austen (c. 1790), while his pupils included John Opie.
From 1785 to 1787, he travelled to India, producing many miniatures and sketches. He was elected a member of the Royal Academy in 1791.
His sight failed in 1797 and he died in 1810 in Hampstead, north London.
The bulk of his possessions came into the hands of his natural son, William Upcott, the book collector. From him the British Museum acquired a large number of papers relating to Humphry. He is alluded to in some lines by Hayley. His miniatures are exquisite in detail and delightful in colouring. Many of the finest are in the collection of John Pierpont Morgan.
See The History of Portrait Miniatures, by GC Williamson, vol. ii. (London, 1904).
[edit] References
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
