(1769 - 1850)
Martin Archer Shee, portrait painter and writer, was born in Dublin, the son of a merchant. After studying in his native city in the early 1780s, he moved to London in 1788 and entered the Royal Academy schools in 1790. Ten years later he was made a Royal Academician. In 1830, Shee was elected President of the Royal Academy, succeeding Sir Thomas Lawrence, and was knighted in the same year. Shee died in Brighton at the age of 80.
