Thread: Frederic William Burton (1816-1900) was an Irish watercolour painter who created some of the greatest works of the Irish school of Art. He was also a gifted art collector & director of the London National Gallery. 
Originally from Wicklow, his family moved to Clare & lived at Clifden House in the Burren where they were members of the Anglo-Irish gentry. He was educated in Dublin & elected to the RHA in 1837. The Aran Fisherman’s Drowned Child (1841), Study (c1841) & Self (c1845).
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Burton was fascinated with the research into traditional Irish culture (as witnessed in his addition of Keeners to his Aran scene) & his Galway piper continues that interest. A Galway Piper (1841), Helen Faucit (nd), Knight on Horseback (nd)
From 1842 Burton exhibited at the RA. He also visited Germany in that year & took note of art development there. Throughout his life he travelled widely & studied art. He had a natural eye for great art. A Venetian Courtesan (nd) & In Joyce Country (nd)
He worked for Maximilian II (1851-8) of Bavaria as an artist. He was also a friend of the artist & antiquarian Petrie & helped with archaeological illustrations. He was on the council of the RIA, Ireland’s premier research institution. George Eliot (1865) & Mrs George Smith (nd)
Burton became associated with the Royal Society of Painters in Watercolour in 1855. He moved to London in 1858. Shireen (nd), Mary Palliser (nd) & Cassandra Fedele (nd). He became engaged to Palliser, who was from Waterford, but they never married.
His painting of Faust dates from his stay in Bavaria & local culture there. Faust’s First Sight of Marguerite (1857), William Stokes (nd) & Thomas Davis (c1850). Stokes & Davis (this is a posthumous Drawing) we’re both friends of Burton.
His approach to watercolour was based on careful study, planning & interest in romantic ideas. Albanian with a Knife (1850s), The Knight’s Esquire (1860s) & The Chapel of St Eucharius (c1857)
Burton was involved in the founding of the National Gallery of Ireland in the 1860s. Today some of his finest works are housed there. Dreams (1861), The Child Miranda (1864) & Cassandra Study (c1869)
Hellelil & Hildebrand (The Meeting on the Turret Stairs, 1864). The work has elements of both German art & the PRB. It was his friend George Eliot’s favourite work by him. Today it is housed in @NGIreland
Burton was appointed the 3rd Director of the London National Gallery in 1874. His purchases for the Gallery are amongst the greatest works in the history of art including Botticelli, Holbein, della Francesca, Da Vinci’s Madonna of the Rocks, Raphael & Van Dyck.
Burton put significant work & research into his collecting & made sure to share details with the board of the Gallery - even sending detailed drawings & overviews for review. Here’s his beautifully observed study from the Madonna of the Rocks by Leonardo. Also another study (nd)
He ceased to paint on his appointment & gave himself over to research, travel & collecting art for the Gallery. His single-minded approach increased the gallery’s reputation dramatically. The artist was knighted in 1884 & Trinity awarded him a LL.D. in 1889.
Burton died in Kensington in 1900, aged 83 & his body was taken home to Ireland to be buried in Mount Jerome, Dublin. Burton in 1892. He was cautious & painstaking both in his collecting & his approach to his beautiful watercolours. A great Irishman.
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