Frederic William Burton

Sir Frederic William Burton, R.H.A., watercolour painter and Director of the National Gallery, London, was born at Clifden House, Corofin, Co. Clare, on 8th April, 1816. He was the third son of Samuel Frederick Burton, also an Irish painter of note. After studying with the Brocas brothers in Dublin he established his reputation as a painter of miniatures and watercolours. When only twenty-one he exhibited three portraits in the Royal Hibernian Academy and was elected an Associate. At the age of twenty-three, he was elected a member. He continued to paint and exhibit in Dublin until 1854, when he went to live and study on the Continent. In 1874, William Gladstone, Prime Minister of England, appointed him Director of the National Gallery in London. After this he never painted another picture but was instrumental in accumulating what is seen as the great collection of that gallery today. He retired in 1894 and lived in Kensington, London until his death on the 16th March, 1900.