William Etty RA (1787–1849)

• Was an English artist best known for his historical paintings containing nude figures.
• Born in York, he left school at the age of 12 to become an apprentice printer in Hull.
• He completed his apprenticeship and moved to London where in 1807 he joined the Royal Academy Schools.
• There he studied under Thomas Lawrence.
• Etty's Cleopatra's Arrival in Cilicia, painted in 1821, featured numerous nudes and was exhibited to great acclaim.
• In 1828 was elected a Royal Academician.
• In the 1830s Etty began to branch out into the field of portraiture, and later became the first English painter to paint significant still lifes.
• He continued to paint both male and female nudes.
• An extremely shy man, Etty rarely socialised and never married.
• From 1824 until his death he lived with his niece Betsy (Elizabeth Etty).
• As his health progressively worsened he retired to York in 1848.
• He died in 1849, shortly after a major retrospective exhibition.
• In the immediate aftermath of his death his works became highly collectable and sold for large sums.
• The displayed painting is a crop from: William Etty, Self-Portrait, 1823.
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