(1842 - 1921)
William Blake Richmond was the son of painter George Richmond. His tutors included his father, John Ruskin and Samuel Palmer. In 1858 he entered the Royal Academy Schools. His wife, Charlotte, died of consumption in 1865, having infected him. From 1866 he spent three years in Rome, studying Old Masters. After meeting Leighton and Giovanni Costa, his work moved towards Neo-Classicism and aestheticism. He remarried in 1867, before visiting Algeria for his health. On his return he became portraitist to ‘The Souls’. He was Slade Professor at Oxford (1879-83), a Royal Academician from 1895 and was made KCB (1897). His best-known works are ‘Venus and Anchises’ (c.1899) and a mosaic decorative scheme for St. Paul’s. He died in Hammersmith aged 78.
