Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Shackleton, John
SHACKLETON, JOHN (d. 1767), portrait-painter, is principally known as a painter of several portraits of George II, Queen Caroline, and other members of the royal family from 1730 onwards. In April 1749 he succeeded William Kent (1684–1748) [q. v.] as court painter. The portraits are stiff and uninteresting, usually in official robes, but they are by no means bad likenesses. In 1755 Shackleton was one of the original committee who drew up the first proposal for a royal academy of London for the improvement of painting, sculpture, and architecture. He exhibited portraits at the Free Society of Artists in 1766, and died on 16 March 1767. There are portraits by him in the National Portrait Gallery, the Foundling Hospital, Fishmongers' Hall, and most of the royal palaces.
[Redgrave's Dict. of Artists; Walpole's Anecdotes of Painting; Pye's Patronage of British Art.]