British painter
James Astbury Hammersley (1818–1867) was an English painter, and a teacher of art and design.
Life
Hammersley was born at Burslem , Staffordshire in 1818.[ 1]
He studied art under James Baker Pyne .[ 2] During the 1840s he taught at the Nottingham School of Design , where his pupils included Henry Hunter and Andrew MacCallum .[ 3] [ 4]
From May 1849 until 31 December 1862 Hammersley was head-master of the Manchester School of Design . He took part in the formation of the Manchester Academy of Fine Arts , being elected its first president, 28 May 1857. He resigned the post on 30 December 1861.[ 2]
Hammersley died on 11 March 1867 in Manchester , and was buried at St. John's Church, Higher Broughton .[ 5]
The Dictionary of National Biography incorrectly claims that he was born in 1815 and died in 1869.[ 2]
Works
Mountains and Clouds – A Scene from the Top of Loughrigg, Westmoreland , a large landscape now in the Manchester City Galleries collection, was exhibited at the autumn exhibition of 1850, and was presented by Hammersley to the Royal Manchester Institution .[ 2] [ 6]
Hammersley received a commission, from Albert, Prince Consort , to paint the prince's birthplace, Schloss Rosenau, Coburg , and another scene in Germany. These works are now in the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle .[ 2]
In 1850 Hammersley delivered an address at Nottingham on the Preparations on the Continent for the Great Exhibition of 1851, and the Condition of the Continental Schools of Art ; it was published. An article by him appeared in Manchester Papers , 1856, entitled "Exhibition of Art Treasures of the United Kingdom", anticipating the Manchester exhibition.[ 2]
In 1845, Mrs Charles Darwin noted in her diary "send the X head to Mr J.A. Hammersley.[ 7]
References
^ "Collections Online | British Museum" . www.britishmuseum.org . Retrieved 8 November 2023 .
^ a b c d e f Stephen, Leslie ; Lee, Sidney , eds. (1890). "Hammersley, James Astbury" . Dictionary of National Biography . Vol. 24. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
^ "Hunter, Henry (1832–1892)". Biography - Henry Hunter - Australian Dictionary of Biography . National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 30 July 2014 .
^ Guyatt, Mary. "MacCallum, Andrew". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi :10.1093/ref:odnb/34675 . (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ "England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995" . Ancestry.com . Retrieved 8 November 2023 .
^ "BBC - Your Paintings - Mountains and Clouds – A Scene from the Top of Loughrigg, Westmoreland" . Art UK . Retrieved 30 June 2014 .
^ "Harwood's Diamond Diary with an Almanack for 1845" . Darwin-online.org.uk . Retrieved 26 October 2021 .
External links
Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Stephen, Leslie ; Lee, Sidney , eds. (1890). "Hammersley, James Astbury ". Dictionary of National Biography . Vol. 24. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
International National Artists