Sir George Scharf KCB (16 December 1820 – 19 April 1895) was a British art critic, illustrator, and director of the National Portrait Gallery.
Sir George Scharf | |
|---|---|
 Sir George Scharf, 1885, oil by Walter William Ouless | |
| Born | 1820 London |
| Died | 1895 London |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation(s) | Illustrator, art critic, lecturer, President of the National Portrait Gallery. |
Biography
editEarly years
editScharf was born at 3 St Martin's Lane, London, the son of George Johann Scharf, a Bavarian miniature painter, and older brother to Henry Scharf, actor and illustrator. He was educated at University College School, and after studying under his father and obtaining medals from the Society of Arts, entered the schools of the Royal Academy in 1838.[1]
Travels
editIn 1840 Charles Fellows engaged Scharf to join him on his second journey to Asia Minor and on the way spent some time in Italy. Three years later he again visited Asia Minor in the capacity of draughtsman. He made drawings of views and antiquities from Lycia, Caria, and Lydia, which are now in British Museum. A selection of these illustrations with text by Fellows was published in 1847.
Career
editAfter his return to England, Scharf exhibited his paintings of the tombs in Myra and Xanthos at the Royal Academy in 1845 and 1846.[2] He also illustrated books relating to art and antiquity, of which the best known are Macaulay's Lays of Ancient Rome (1847); Milman's Horace, (1849); Kugler's Handbook of Italian Painting (1851); and Dr Smith's classical dictionaries.[3] In addition, he produced thirty-seven illustrations for the 1845 illuminated Book of Common Prayer designed by Owen Jones.
He also engaged largely in lecturing and teaching, and took part in the formation of the Greek, Roman and Pompeian courts at the Crystal Palace. He acted as art secretary to the great Manchester Art Treasures Exhibition of 1857, and in that year was appointed secretary and director to the newly founded National Portrait Gallery. The remainder of his life was given to the care of that institution.[3]
Scharf acquired an unrivalled knowledge of all matters relating to historic portraiture, and was the author of many learned essays on the subject. In 1885, in recognition of his services to the Portrait Gallery, he was made CB, and on his resignation, early in 1895, KCB and a trustee of the Gallery.[3] He died at his home 8 Ashley Place, London in April 1895 after a long illness.[4]
Paintings and illustrations
editBibliography
edit- On the Principal Portraits of Shakespeare, By Sir George Scharf, 1864
- A catalogue of the pictures belonging to the Society of antiquaries ... By Sir George Scharf, Society of Antiquaries of London, 1865
- Historical and descriptive catalogue of the pictures, busts, &c., in the ... By Sir George Scharf, National Portrait Gallery (Great Britain), 1884
- Historical and Descriptive Catalogue of the National Portrait Gallery, Compiled by Sir GEORGE SCHARF revised by LIONEL CUST, London 1896
- Sir George Scharf Notebooks, Artist and Director of the National Portrait Gallery, 1820-1895
Images of George Scharf
editReferences
edit
- ^ Lee, Sidney, ed. (1897). . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 50. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
- ^ Graves, Algernon (1905). The Royal Academy of Arts; a complete dictionary of contributors and their work from its foundation in 1769 to 1904. University of California Libraries. London : H. Graves and co., ltd. [etc.]
- ^ a b c Chisholm 1911.
- ^ New York Times Obituary https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1895/04/20/102455402.pdf
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Scharf, Sir George". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 24 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 313.
