Artist Information
Artist
William Daniell the Elder, RA (1769-1837)Role
Artist and EngraverArtist
Thomas Daniell, RA (1746-1840)Role
Artist and EngraverArtist
Thomas Daniell, RA (1746-1840)Role
PublisherDate made
1804Time Period
19th CenturyNotes
ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES
The Daniells, Thomas and his nephew William, were perhaps the most exceptional of the artists in the 18th and 19th centuries to travel to India and record Indian life, peoples, architecture and landscapes. Until then, people in England had never viewed scenes of India based on the first-hand observations of an artist. The Daniells' great work on India, “Oriental Scenery and Antiquities”, was published in six parts over the period 1795–1808 with a total of 144 coloured aquatints. The cost of a complete set was £210, or perhaps £175,000 today. The publication was considered a success, both artistically and financially.
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Born in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, Thomas Daniell was an English landscape painter and printmaker. He traveled extensively in India in the company of his nephew William, with whom he collaborated on one of the finest illustrated works of the period, “Oriental Scenery and Antiquities”. Thomas began his career apprenticed to a heraldic painter before attending the Royal Academy Schools. He exhibited 30 works, mainly landscapes and floral pieces, at the Academy between 1772 and 1784, and in 1784 he obtained permission from the East India Company to travel to Calcutta to work as an engraver, accompanied by his nephew.
The Daniells arrived in Calcutta via China early in 1786, spending seven years sketching and drawing as they travelled, recording life across India from Calcutta to Srinagar, Madras, Bombay and more. In 1793 the Daniells left India and returned to England, reaching home in the fall of 1794. Arriving back in London, the Daniells turned the substantial number of on-site sketches into finished water colours and oil painting and then concentrated on producing aquatint prints for their illustrated work "Oriental Scenery and Antiquities". The Daniells also published "Views in Egypt" (1808–9) and "A Picturesque Voyage to India, by Way of China" (1810). They etched all the plates themselves, almost all in aquatint. Daniell also contributed to some landscaping projects and various garden buildings. He was elected a Royal Academician in 1790, and later a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He died at his home in Kensington, London, aged 91, having outlived both his nephews.
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William Daniell was an English landscape and marine painter, and printmaker, notable for his work in aquatint. He traveled extensively in India in the company of his Uncle Thomas, with whom he collaborated on one of the finest illustrated works of the period, “Oriental Scenery and Antiquities”. He later traveled around the coastline of Britain to paint watercolours for the equally ambitious “A Voyage Round Great Britain”.
Born in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, William’s future dramatically changed when he was sent to live with his uncle, the artist Thomas Daniell, after his father's early death. At sixteen, William accompanied his uncle to India, who worked there on a series of prints, acting as his assistant in preparing drawings and sketches. William's brother, Samuel, remained independent of his uncle and also became a topographical artist.
In 1813 William started on what was to be his best-known work, “A Voyage Round Great Britain”. His plan was to journey around the whole coast and record views of places of interest with commentary. His journey was completed in six separate trips, and his 308 aquatints in eight volumes were published 1814-1825.
William also produced a number of marine paintings from battles to shipping scenes. Daniell's last great artistic work was produced between 1827 and 1830. He exhibited a total of five oil paintings of Windsor Castle and surroundings and two oil paintings of Virginia Water, at the Royal Academy Exhibitions. His view of the “Long Walk at Windsor” was generally acknowledged to be his masterpiece in oils. He also produced a set of 12 aquatints of the Windsor and Virginia water views said by Thomas Sutton (author “The Daniells: Artists and Travellers”, 1954) to be the “the finest aquatints ever made”. He was elected Associate of the Royal Academy in 1807, and a Royal Academician in 1822. Of note, in the final ballot, the voting was between John Constable and Daniell, the result being 11 to 17. Daniell worked right up to his death, at age 68, in Camden Town, London.
