(1832 - 1910)
Sir William Quiller Orchardson was born in Edinburgh, the son of a tailor. He entered the Trustees’ Academy School of Art in Edinburgh, aged 13, and remained until 1855. At 16 he first exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy. In 1862 Orchardson moved to London with artists John Pettie and Thomas Graham and all three lived together in Fitzroy Square. He exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1863 and visited Venice in 1870. In 1877 he became a member of the Royal Academy. From about that time he concentrated on ballroom and drawing room subjects, painting a series of domestic dramas. He later focused on portraiture and his sitters included Queen Victoria and George Frederick, Prince of Wales. He was knighted in 1907 and died in London, aged 78.
