Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Fisher, Jonathan
FISHER, JONATHAN (d. 1812), landscape painter, was a native of Dublin, and originally a draper in that city. Having a taste for art, he studied it by himself, and eventually succeeded in obtaining the patronage of the nobility. He produced some landscapes which were clever attempta to reproduce nature, but were too mechanical and cold in colour to be popular. They were, however, very well suited for engraving, and a set of views of Carlingford Harbour and its neighbourhood were finely engraved by Thomas Vivares, James Mason, and other eminent landscape engravers of the day. In 1792 Fisher published a folio volume called 'A Picturesque Tour of Killarney, consisting of 30 views engraved in aquatinta, with a map, some general observations, &c.' He also published other illustrations of scenery in Ireland. Fisher did not find art profitable, but was fortunate enough to obtain a situation in the Stamp Office, Dublin, which he continued to hold up to his death in 1812. There is a landscape by Fisher in the South Kensington Museum, 'A View of Lymington River, with the Isle of Wight in the distance.' A painting by him of 'The Schomberg Obelisk in the Boyne' was in the Irish Exhibition at London in 1888.
[Redgrave's Dict. of Artists; Catalogues of the South Kensington Museum and the Irish Exhibition, 1888; Lowndes's Bibl. Man.; engravings in Print Room, Brit. Mus.]