Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Linton, William (1791-1876)
LINTON, WILLIAM (1791–1876), landscape-painter, was born at Liverpool on 22 April 1791, but while he was yet an infant his parents removed to Lancaster. At the age of eight he was sent to school at Rochdale, but his holidays were partly spent amid the scenery of Windermere, where his mother's family possessed an estate. When about sixteen he was placed in a merchant's office at Liverpool, but his love of sketching led him often to pay truant visits to North Wales and the English Lakes. He was also afforded opportunities of copying the landscapes of Richard Wilson at Ince Blundell Hall, Lancashire, and at length made art his profession. He settled in London, and in its environs, as well as at Hastings, the Isle of Wight, and the south coast of England, he found subjects for his earlier works. His first appearance at the Royal Academy was in 1817, when he exhibited ‘Coniston Lake’ and two views at Richmond in Surrey. In the same year he sent to the British Institution a landscape entitled ‘L'Allegro.’ These were followed later by small English landscapes, and by ‘Anacreontic Revels,’ exhibited at the British Institution in 1820; ‘The Landing of the Trojans to consult the Oracle of Apollo at Delos,’ in 1821; and ‘Edinburgh, from the base of Arthur's Seat,’ and a ‘Scene on the Thames, below London Bridge,’ in 1822. In 1823 he sent to the British Institution ‘Morning after a Storm: a scene near Lynton, on the North Devon coast,’ and to the Royal Academy three views in Northwick Park, painted for Lord Northwick.
Linton took an active part in the foundation of the Society of British Artists, and to its first exhibition in 1824 he sent ‘The Vale of Lonsdale’ and ten other works; and to that of 1825 ‘The Vale and Lakes of Keswick’ and ‘Delos.’ The latter work led to a commission from the Duke of Bedford to paint for the dining-room at Woburn Abbey an ‘Italian Scene,’ which was exhibited at the British Institution in 1826. In the same year he sent to the Society of British Artists a fine poetical composition entitled ‘A City of Ancient Greece—The Return of a Victorious Armament,’ which was engraved by J. W. Appleton for Finden's ‘Royal Gallery of British Art,’ and in 1828 ‘Æneas and Achates landing on the coast of Africa, near to Carthage, are directed by Venus, who appears to them in the character of a Spartan Huntress.’ About this time, also, he painted for Lord Egremont ‘A Grecian Seaport—Morning,’ which was engraved by Edward Goodall for the ‘Anniversary’ of 1829. These scenes were painted from imagination, for Linton did not visit Greece until 1840. He paid a first visit to the continent in 1828, and remained in Italy fifteen months, making sketches of the most striking scenery. He returned to England in 1829, and in 1830 sent to the Royal Academy ‘Zagarolo, an ancient town in the Campagna.’ In 1830 also he exhibited at the Society of British Artists ‘Naples,’ and in 1831 ‘Cività Castellana,’ which again appeared at the British Institution in 1832, when he sent to Suffolk Street ‘The Grecian Choirs at the Temple of Apollo.’ He also produced two folio volumes of ‘Sketches in Italy,’ drawn on stone, and published with descriptive text in 1832. Then followed, at the Society of British Artists in 1834, ‘Caius Marius sitting among the Ruins of Carthage,’ which attracted much attention, and was engraved by J. T. Willmore, A.R.A., for Finden's ‘Royal Gallery of British Art,’ and in 1836 ‘Ancient Jerusalem during the approach of the Miraculous Darkness which attended the Crucifixion,’ which was engraved in mezzotint by T. G. Lupton. In 1837 he exhibited at the Royal Academy ‘The Vale of Aosta;’ in 1838, ‘The Lake of Lugano;’ and in 1839, ‘Embarkation of the Greeks for the Trojan War,’ one of the largest of his classical compositions, exhibited again at Westminster Hall in 1847. He sent to the Society of British Artists in 1838 ‘The Ruins of Ancient Tyre,’ and in 1839 ‘The City of Argos, with the Embarkation of Agamemnon for the Trojan War.’ He then, in 1840, set out on a fifteen months' tour through Greece, Sicily, and Calabria, taking Italy on his way, and returned with between two and three hundred sketches, which he exhibited at the gallery of the New Society of Painters in Water-colours.
Linton resigned his membership of the Society of British Artists in 1842, and in that year sent to the Royal Academy ‘The Temple and Acropolis of Corinth,’ and to the British Institution ‘The Lake of Nemi.’ To both these exhibitions he contributed in subsequent years many landscapes, the majority painted from his Italian sketches. ‘The Temples of Pæstum,’ which he bequeathed to the National Gallery, was shown at the Westminster Hall Exhibition of 1847. ‘The Temple of Female Fortune, with the Acqua Felice,’ which appeared at the Academy in 1849, was purchased by Sir Robert Peel, being the last picture added to his collection. In 1851 he exhibited at the Academy ‘A Festa Day at Venice—The Grand Canal,’ to which a prize of 50l. was awarded by the Royal Institution of Manchester; in 1852, ‘Ruins near Empulum, in the Apennines,’ and ‘The Foscari Palace, Venice;’ in 1853, ‘A Mountain Town in Calabria, above the Gulf of Tarento—Brigands driving off Cattle;’ in 1855, ‘Ruins of the Castellum of the Julian Aqueduct, Rome,’ and a ‘Scene near the Mouth of the River Po, on the Adriatic;’ in 1856, ‘The Tiber, with the Church of St. Andrew the Apostle, and the Vatican;’ in 1857, a large view of ‘Derwentwater;’ and in 1859, ‘The Bay of Baiæ,’ after which he ceased to exhibit at the Academy. He continued, however, until 1871 to contribute to the exhibitions of the Society of British Artists, of which he became an honorary member in 1869. His ideal Greek compositions are his best works, but his English and Italian landscapes are characterised by an unaffected truthfulness.
Linton was well versed in the chemistry of colours, and served as an associate juror in the chemical class at the Great Exhibition of 1851. He published in 1852 ‘Ancient and Modern Colours, from the earliest periods to the present time: with their chemical and artistical properties.’ He was also the author of ‘The Scenery of Greece and its Islands,’ with fifty views executed on steel by himself, 1856, 4to, 2nd edit. 1869, and of ‘Colossal Vestiges of the Older Nations,’ 1862, 8vo.
He died at 7 Lodge Place, St. John's Wood Road, London, on 18 Aug. 1876. His remaining works were sold by Messrs. Christie, Manson, & Woods on 15 Feb. 1877.
[Art Journal, 1850 p. 252 (with portrait), 1858 pp. 9–11, 1876 p. 329; Royal Academy Exhibition Catalogues, 1817–59; British Institution Exhibition Catalogues (Living Artists), 1817–61; Exhibition Catalogues of the Society of British Artists, 1824–71; Records of several of Mr. Linton's Works, which have appeared in the London Exhibitions in the course of half a century, 1872, 8vo, privately printed.]