Robert West (painter)

Robert West (died 1770) was an Irish artist, draughtsman and teacher. He was born in Waterford, where his father was an alderman.^[1] He studied drawing and painting at the French Academy under François Boucher and Jean-Baptiste van Loo.^[2]

He founded a drawing school in George's Lane, Dublin in the 1730s, and from 1744 was commissioned by the Dublin Society to teach pupils. In 1757, the Dublin Society established a drawing school, with West as Master, which would later develop into the National College of Art and Design.^[2] He was Master of the school from its foundation until 1763, when he suffered from a mental illness, and Jacob Ennis took over as Master. West again became Master of the school on the death of Ennis in 1770, although he too died the same year.^[1] He was succeeded as Master by his son Francis Robert West and his grandson Robert Lucius West.^[2]

References

• Redgrave, Samuel; Redgrave, Frances Margaret (1878). "West, Robert". A Dictionary of Artists of the English School. George Bell & Sons. p. 465. 
•  "West, Robert". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900. 

Notes