Edward Dayes (1763–1804) was an English watercolour painter and engraver in mezzotint.
He studied under William Pether, and began to exhibit at the Royal Academy in 1786, sending views of Waltham and Canterbury; in the three following years he exhibited miniatures as well as landscapes. He continued to exhibit there regularly till the year of his death, contributing in all sixty-four works. He also was an exhibitor at the Society of Artists. He committed suicide at the end of May 1804.
In 1798 he began to send classic and scriptural subjects, such as 'The Fall of the Angels ' (1798), 'John preaching in the Wilderness' (1799), the 'Triumph of Beauty' (1800), and 'Elisha causing Iron to swim' (1801). Many of his drawings were crowded with figures,; among these were two views of the interior of St. Paul's Cathedral on the occasion of the thanksgiving for the king's recovery in 1789, 'The Trial of Warren Hastings in Westminster Abbey,' and 'Buckingham House, St. James's Park' (1780), which was hung in the South Kensington Museum. All these works have been engraved.
He drew from nature in various parts of England, including the Lake District and Wales, and his sketches in grey tints were precursors of the English school of water-colour. He was the master of Thomas Girtin, and his influence is seen in the early drawings of J. M. W. Turner. He was draughtsman to the Duke of York. In the South Kensington Museum he was represented by a view of Ely Cathedral (1792), and views of Windermere and Keswick Lake.
He engraved at least four plates in mezzotint, one after George Morland, another after John Raphael Smith, and two humorous scenes called 'Rustic Courtship' and 'Polite Courtship.' He wrote an 'Excursion through Derbyshire and Yorkshire,' 'Essays on Painting; Instructions for Drawing and Colouring Landscapes,' and 'Professional Sketches of Modem Artists.' After his death his works were collected and edited by E. W. Bradley, and published for the benefit of his widow in 1805.
His wife painted miniatures and exhibited four works at the Royal Academy between 1797 and 1800.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Dayes, Edward". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.