George Dawe (6 February 1781 – 15 October 1829) was an English portraitist who painted 329 portraits of Russian generals active during Napoleon's invasion of Russia for the Military Gallery of the Winter Palace. He relocated to Saint Petersburg in 1819, where he won acclaim for his work from the artistic establishment and complimentary verses by Pushkin.[ "Tate organization: Arts and Artists"] He was the son of Philip Dawe, a successful mezzotint engraver who also produced political cartoons relating to the events of the Boston Tea Party. One of his brothers was Henry Edward Dawe, also a portraitist.[ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography] He died on 15 October 1829 in Kentish Town, United Kingdom.
Life and career
Early life and studies
George Dawe was born on 6 February 1781 to
Philip Dawe and Jane in Brewer Street, in the parish of St James's in
Westminster. Philip was an artist and engraver in mezzotint who had worked with
William Hogarth and Joseph Mallord William Turner and who also produced satirical political cartoons about life in America which are still highly regarded. George was the first child born to the couple and there would be other successful artists in the family. Dawe was baptised on 25 February 1781 at St James's Church in
Piccadilly, with
George Morland as his godfather.
[ “RusArtNet: Biography of George Dowe”] He originally trained with his father as an engraver and became very accomplished from an early age. He later became interested in painting and went on to study at the Royal Academy of Arts where he won the Royal Academy Schools Gold Medal in 1803.
[ "Royal Academy: George Dawe RA (1781–1829)"] He was elected an associate member of the Royal Academy in 1809 and became an Academician in 1814. He collected old masters and studied modern and classical languages, philosophy and literature. He also studied anatomy as part of his pursuit of a better understanding of the human form and undertook human dissections in his own home as well as attending operations to improve his knowledge of the human body.
[[Image:Selfportrait with G. Dawe and family.JPG|thumb|left|170px|George Dawe (seated) and
Wilhelm August Golicke (in the hat) with members of his family. Painting by
Wilhelm August Golicke (1834?).]]
Portrait painting
His painting of classical subjects won much praise and were the making of his early reputation but he was more interested in financial success and sought portraiture commissions which were lucrative and which brought him into contact with high society. However, the direct way in which he promoted his own work was not approved of by artistic society and brought considerable criticism from his contemporaries, one of whom was
John Constable, who painted a background for a Dawe portrait on at least one occasion. He enjoyed the patronage of the Duke and Duchess of Kent and also that of Princess Charlotte and Prince Leopold.
Career in Russia
In 1819 he travelled with the Duke of Kent through Europe. On this tour his painting of portraits of military staff and diplomats brought him to the attention of Alexander I who commissioned him to paint the portraits of senior Russian military staff who had successfully fought
Napoleon. He went to live in
St Petersburg and, from 1822 to 1828, painted over 300 portraits for the military collection at the Winter Palace with his assistants, Alexander Polyakov and Wilhelm August Golicke.
[ “The World Artist: George Dawe”] He became a celebrity throughout Europe and mixed with the Russian intellectual elite. Among others he met and knew were
Pushkin who wrote a poem about him entitled "To Dawe Esq." In 1826 Nicholas I invited him to his coronation ceremony and in 1828 he was officially appointed First Portrait Painter of the Imperial Court.
Dawe returned to England in 1828 and stayed for several months. During this time he exhibited many of his recent works and George IV was among those to whom they were privately shown.
Decline in health, and death
He returned to St Petersburg in 1829 but soon became increasingly unwell with breathing difficulties following a serious cold. He had pulmonary weakness throughout life following childhood illness. He returned to London in August 1829 and died on 15 October at the home of his brother-in-law, Thomas Wright, a celebrated engraver. He was buried in the crypt of St Paul's Cathedral
["Memorials of St Paul's Cathedral" Sinclair, W. p. 465: London; Chapman & Hall, Ltd; 1909.] and his funeral was attended by many artists and officials from the Russian embassy.
The significant body of work he created in Russia is currently housed in the military gallery in the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg. Many of his paintings are also included in the British Royal Collection. Despite the international celebrity he enjoyed in his own lifetime his popularity did not endure in England, although in Russia he is still well-known and held in high regard.[Lamb, Charles. Recollections of a late Royal Academician. The Englishman's Magazine, vol. ii, no. i, September 1831]
Gallery
Russian royalty, noblemen and military officers
Sources:
[ “National Portrait Gallery: George Dawe Collection”][ “Art UK: George Dowe”][ “Hermitage Museum Collection of George Dawe”]
File:Alexander I of Russia by G.Dawe (1817, Royal coll. of UK).jpg|Alexander I of Russia
File:Grand Duke Nicholas Pavlovich by G.Dawe (1821, Hermitage).jpg|Nicholas I of Russia
File:Alexandra Feodorovna (Charlotte of Prussia).jpg|Alexandra Feodorovna
File:Anna Pavlovna of Russia.jpg|Anna, Queen of the Netherlands
File:Maria Pavlovna of Russia by G.Dawe (1822, Hermitage).jpg|Maria Pavlovna of Russia
File:Grand Duke Michael Pavlovich of Russia.JPG|Grand Duke Michael of Russia
File:Suvorov Alex V.jpg|Alexander Suvorov
File:Kutuzov2 by Daw.jpg|Mikhail Kutuzov
File:Alexei-jermolov.jpg|Aleksey Petrovich Yermolov
File:Madatov Valer'ian Grigor'evich, 1782-1829.jpg|Valerian Madatov
File:Kulnev.jpg|Yakov Kulnev
File:Cyprian Kreutz.jpg|Cyprian Kreutz
File:Ostermann-tolstoi.jpg|Alexander Ivanovich Ostermann-Tolstoy
File:Denisdavydov.jpg|Denis Davydov
File:Karl Wilhelm von Toll.jpg|Karl Wilhelm von Toll
File:Barclay de Tolly (Dawe).jpg|Barclay de Tolly
File:Bennigsen.jpg|Levin August von Bennigsen
File:Arakcheev Alexey Andreevich.jpg|Count Aleksey Arakcheyev
File:Alexander von Benckendorff.jpg|Alexander von Benckendorff
File:Михаил Андреевич Милорадович.jpg|Mikhail Miloradovich
File:George Dawe - Portrait of General Pyotr Bagration (1765-1812) - Google Art Project.jpg|Pyotr Bagration
File:Madatov.jpg|Valerian Madatov
File:Dawe, Mikhail Vorontsov.jpg|Mikhail Vorontsov
Other works
File:Imogen Discovered in the Cave of Belarius - George Dawe.jpg| Imogen Found in the Cave of Belarius, 1809
File:George Dawe (1781-1829) - Leopold, Prince of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, later Leopold I, King of the Belgians (1790-1865) - RCIN 406340 - Royal Collection.jpg|Leopold of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, 1816
File:Princess Charlotte of Wales by Dawe (1817).jpg| Portrait of Princess Charlotte of Wales, 1817
File:Henry William Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey by George Dawe.jpg|Marquess of Anglesey, c.1817
File:Miguel Ricardo de Álava.jpg|Miguel Ricardo de Álava, 1818
File:George Dawe (1781-1829) - Edward, Duke of Kent (1767-1820) - RCIN 407177 - Royal Collection.jpg|Edward, Duke of Kent, 1818
File:Dawe, George - Buste van de hertogin van Kent - 170 - Royal Collection of Belgium.jpg|Victoria, Duchess of Kent, 1818
File:Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha - Dawe 1818-19.jpg|Ernest, Duke of Saxe-Coburg, 1819
File:Roland Hill 1819.jpg|Rowland Hill, 1819
File:Saksen-Koburg Leopold-2a.jpeg| Leopold of Saxe-Coburg
File:Ernest Augustus I of Hanover.PNG| Ernest Augustus I of Hanover, c.1828
File:George Dawe - Portrait of Duke of Wellington - WGA6131.jpg|Duke of Wellington, 1829
Sources
External links
