Charles Lewis (1753 – 12 July 1795) was an English still life painter.
Life
Lewis was born in Gloucester in 1753. He was apprenticed to a manufacturer in Birmingham, where he obtained some reputation for his skill in the decoration of japanned tea-trays. He turned to painting, and in 1772, at the exhibition of the Society of Artists in London, he exhibited nine pictures of fruit, dead game and other still life subjects.[1]
He went to Dublin in 1776, but not meeting with success as a painter he took to the stage, obtaining from Michael Arne an engagement as a singer at the Crow Street Theatre, Dublin. Again he was not successful.[1]
He visited Holland in 1781, and on his return settled in London, where he acquired great repute as a painter of still life. He exhibited three pictures at the Royal Academy of Arts in 1786. He exhibited for the last time in 1791, sending a fruit piece to the Royal Academy.[1]
On the invitation of Lord Gardenstone Lewis went to Edinburgh, but on the death of his patron his fortunes languished, and he died there on 12 July 1795.[1]
Lewis married a daughter of the violinist Thomas Pinto.[1]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 Cust, Lionel Henry (1893). . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 33. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 171–172.
Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Cust, Lionel Henry (1893). "Lewis, Charles (1753-1795)". In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 33. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 171–172.