Sir William Boxall R.A. 1800-1879 British School 19th.Century. Head Studies, Pen and Ink drawing Circa.1825. Inscribed to a label verso, 31.1 x 19cms.
William Boxall entered the Royal Academy schools in 1819. He worked chiefly as a portrait painter but occasionally exhibited history and subject pictures in an attempt to gain recognition. Between the mid-1830s and the 1860s he enjoyed a reputation as a society painter and also for his likenesses of leading literary, artistic and intellectual figures of the day. To further his ambition to succeed as a history painter he travelled and studied in Italy but portraiture remained his principal employment, accounting for most of his exhibited works. Boxall was elected ARA in 1851 and RA in 1863. In 1865 he was appointed Director of The National Gallery and retired from painting.