(c.1740 - after 1817)
Richard Cooper, painter and printmaker, was born in Edinburgh; the son of an engraver. He trained under his father before studying under engraver Jacques Philippe Le Bas in Paris. He moved to London in 1761 and exhibited at the Society of Artists and Free Society for three years. He then travelled in Spain, recording Old Master paintings. In 1768 he became drawing-master at Eton College. In 1771 he travelled to Italy, visiting Venice, Capua, and Naples. He later travelled to Rome, where he developed a style close to that of Alexander Runciman and earned the nickname ‘the English Poussin’. In c.1787 he settled in St James’s, London, and exhibited at the Royal Academy until 1809. He taught Princess Charlotte drawing between 1796 and 1817.
