John Hamilton Mortimer.html



John Hamilton Mortimer (1740 - 1779) was a British Neoclassical painter known primarily for his romantic paintings and pieces set in Italy and its countryside, various other works depicting conversations between people,¹ and works drawn in the 1770s portraying war scenes, very similar to those of Salvator Rosa.^[I] Among other things, Mortimer took the place of President of the Society of Artists in 1774, only several years before his death, at age 39.

Not much is known about Mortimer's family, other than that his father was a customs officer. He studied at the Duke of Richmond's Academy, while he was young (by 1757). During this time, Mortimer became a close friend of Joseph Wright, who was a fellow student at the Academy, a friendship which endured throughout Mortimer's life. Mortimer is also known to have had some professional relationship with the artist Samuel Ireland, a man who was involved with etching Mortimer's work². He began to display his works on a regular basis from the early 1760s onwards, and became an active member of the Society of Artists. This involvement with the Society of Artists culminated in his rise to presidency of the Society in 1774.³ In the 1770s, Mortimer was associated with presenting a more masculine, and criminal, presentation of the male form after a period of more effete images. His painting Sir Arthegal, the Knight of Justice, with Talus, the Iron Man is used as an example of this style.⁴ In 1775 he married Jane Hurrel, ⁵ which had an effect on his productivity in regards to his creation of artwork. He died of undocumented causes four years later.⁶

Very few of Mortimer's paintings have endured to the present day, for a variety of reasons. However, some of his work may still be viewed through their engravings.⁶

Use cursor to find Dr Daniel Solander, Sir Joseph Banks, Captain James Cook, Dr John Hawkesworth and Earl Sandwich by Mortimer

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