Admin
History
|
William Bell Scott was born in Edinburgh in 1811 of an artistic family: his father was an engraver and his elder brother became a painter. He was educated at Edinburgh High School and also had some teaching in art in Edinburgh and London, after which he assisted his father in his work. He also enjoyed writing, and had some poetry published before leaving for London to make his living as an artist, exhibiting at the Royal Academy for the first time in 1842. He soon accepted an appointment in Newcastle-upon-Tyne as the organiser of art schools in the north-east, a post he held from 1844 to 1864, during which time he was able to undertake private commissions and devote part of his time to poetry, in which he touched on mystical and philosophical subjects. He returned to London in 1864 and spent the rest of his life between there and Perthshire, where he had friends: he was part of a considerable literary and artistic circle in Chelsea which included Rossetti (1828-1882) and Swinburne (1837-1909). He died in 1890.
|