Henry Singleton (painter)

Henry Singleton (1766 - 1839) was an English painter and miniaturist.

Henry Singleton was born in London, England on 19 October 1766. He died in London, at the house of a friend at 7 Kensington Gore, on 15 September 1839, and was buried in the church of St Martin-in-the-Fields, London.

Henry Singleton was a member of an artistic family. He was raised by his uncle William Singleton (d. 1793), after his father died when he was younger than two years old. William Singleton, who studied under the tutelage of Ozias Humphry, painted portraits and miniatures. Another uncle, Joseph Singleton, exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1773 and 1788. Henry Singleton’s sisters Maria and Sarah (later Macklarinan) were miniaturists who exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1808 to 1820 and from 1787 to 1806 respectively.

Although Henry Singleton also painted miniatures, he did not adhere strictly to the genre. He exhibited at the Royal Academy, between 1784 and 1839, approximately 300 works, a large proportion of which were portraits, with scriptural subjects making much of the remainder. He was for many years the oldest living exhibitor at the Royal Academy. His works were also exhibited at the British Institution from 1806 and at the Society of British Artists from 1824 until his death in 1839.

From the age of sixteen, Henry Singleton worked as a professional portraitist. He attended the Royal Academy Schools from the age of seventeen and won the silver medal in 1784. His painting from John Dryden’s ode "Alexander’s Feast" won the gold medal in 1788.In 1793, he was commissioned by the Royal Academy to paint a group portrait of forty of the academicians. Ironically, Singleton never became a member or an associate of the Academy himself. Early in his career, Singleton was noted for large compositions from the Bible, Shakespeare or contemporary historical events. Although his portrait work was always in demand, he never achieved the great success as a historical painter that his early promise showed.
Lord Nelson, Admiral Vernon, Lord Howe and John 'Mad Jack' Fuller are among his portrait sitters. "Paul I Granting Liberty to Kościuszko" (1797) and "The Death of Captain Alexander Hood after Capturing the French 74 ‘L’Hercule’" (1798) are considered by some to be his best works. Shortly before his death, he completed a series of cabinet pictures to illustrate the works of Shakespeare.In 1807 he married his cousin, William Singleton’s only daughter.

Henry Singleton’s works are currently in the collections of: The British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the National Portrait Gallery (London), the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Tate Britain, the Ulster Museum, and the Brighton Art Gallery.

References

* cite book
title = A dictionary of painters of miniatures (1525-1850): with some account of exhibitions, collections, sales, etc., pertaining to them
author = Foster, J. J. (Joshua James)
publisher = Lenox Hill Pub (Jun 1967)
id = ISBN-10: 0833712187
* cite book
title = Oxford dictionary of national biography: in association with the British Academy: from the earliest times to the year 2000
author = Matthew, H. C. G. (Henry Colin Gray)
publisher = Oxford University Press, 2004
id = ISBN-10: 019861411X