William Owen
(1769-1825), PainterArtist associated with 98 portraits
Shropshire-born William Owen moved to London in 1786 and was apprenticed for seven years to the coach-painter Charles Catton. He was encouraged by Sir Joshua Reynolds to enter the Royal Academy Schools, which he did in 1791. His first work was exhibited at the Royal Academy in the following year and he continued to exhibit every nearly year until his death. Owen's work comprised mainly portraits and he built up a distinguished list of sitters including William Pitt, Lord Grenville and Sir John Soane. In 1810, Owen was appointed portrait painter to the Prince of Wales; the prince promised to sit for Owen but never did.
Comments back to top
We are currently unable to accept new comments, but any past comments are available to read below.
If you need information from us, please use our Archive enquiry service . Please note that we cannot provide valuations. You can buy a print or greeting card of most illustrated portraits. Select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Buy a Print button. Prices start at around £6 for unframed prints, £16 for framed prints. If you wish to license an image, select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Use this image button, or contact our Rights and Images service. We digitise over 8,000 portraits a year and we cannot guarantee being able to digitise images that are not already scheduled.
Dr Barry Hoffbrand
26 February 2016, 19:31
The portrait of Sir Lionel Darell Bt (c 1804) in the Library and Museum of Freemasonry attributed to John Hoppner (In Art UK) is almost certainly by William Owen RA as recorded in the minutes of the Somerset House Lodge as it then was in 1803-6