Richard James Lane
Encyclopedia
Life
The elder brother of Edward William LaneEdward William Lane
Edward William Lane was a British Orientalist, translator and lexicographer....
, and second son of the Rev. Theophilus Lane, LL.D., prebendary of Hereford, he was born at Berkeley Castle
Berkeley Castle
Berkeley Castle is a castle in the town of Berkeley, Gloucestershire, UK . The castle's origins date back to the 11th century and it has been designated by English Heritage as a grade I listed building.The castle has remained within the Berkeley family since they reconstructed it in the...
, 16 February 1800. His mother was a niece of Thomas Gainsborough
Thomas Gainsborough
Thomas Gainsborough was an English portrait and landscape painter.-Suffolk:Thomas Gainsborough was born in Sudbury, Suffolk. He was the youngest son of John Gainsborough, a weaver and maker of woolen goods. At the age of thirteen he impressed his father with his penciling skills so that he let...
the painter. At the age of sixteen he was articled to Charles Heath
Charles Heath
Charles Theodosius Heath was an English engraver, currency and stamp printer, book publisher and illustrator.-Life and work:...
the line-engraver. In 1824 his prints were already attracting notice, and in 1827, when he produced an engraving of Sir Thomas Lawrence's ‘Red Riding Hood,’ he was elected an associate-engraver of the Royal Academy
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...
, although he had shown only a single print at their exhibitions. In later years, he helped obtain in 1865, the admission of engravers to the honour of full academician.
In 1837 he was appointed lithographer to the queen, and in 1840 to Albert, Prince Consort. In 1864, when he had almost given up lithography, he became director of the etching class in the science and art department at the South Kensington Museum, and retained the post almost till his death, which took place on 21 November 1872.
Among his close friends were Charles Kemble
Charles Kemble
Charles Kemble was a British actor.-Life:The youngest son of Roger Kemble, and younger brother of John Philip Kemble, Stephen Kemble and Sarah Siddons, he was born at Brecon, South Wales. Like John Philip, he was educated at Douai...
, William Macready, Charles Fechter
Charles Fechter
-Biography:Fechter was born, probably in London, of French parents, although his mother was of Piedmontese and his father of German extraction.As a boy he had ambitions to be a sculptor's life but discovered his talent accidentally while appearing in some private theatricals. In 1841 he joined a...
, Maria Feliciá Malibran, and her operatic contemporaries.
Works
In 1829 he drew a well-known portrait of the future Queen Victoria, aged ten years, and he later executed portraits in pencil or chalk of the queen and most of the royal family at various ages, besides prints after Franz Xaver Winterhalter's portraits.He turned from engraving to lithography. He produced in this medium Sketches from Gainsborough, and a series of copies of Sir Thomas Lawrence's portraits of George IV's cycle. He also lithographed several hundred pictures of the leading artists of the day, especially those of Charles Robert Leslie
Charles Robert Leslie
]Charles Robert Leslie , was an English genre painter. Born in London, his parents were American, and when he was five years of age he returned with them to their native country. They settled in Philadelphia, where their son was educated and afterwards apprenticed to a bookseller...
, Edwin Landseer, George Richmond
George Richmond
For the 21st century educator see George H. RichmondGeorge Richmond was an English painter.George Richmond was the father of the painter William Blake Richmond as well as the grandfather of the naval historian, Admiral Sir Herbert Richmond.A keen follower of cricket, Richmond was noted in one...
, and his own special friend John James Chalon
John James Chalon
John James Chalon was a Swiss painter active in England. He treated a wide range of subjects — landscapes, marine scenes, animal life, and figure-pieces.-Life:...
; in all 67 of his lithographs were exhibited at the Academy. The total of his prints reached the number of 1,046. He also tried his hand at sculpture, including a life-size seated statue of his brother, Edward Lane, in Egyptian dress.
His ‘Life at the Water-cure,’ 1846, went to three editions. He also edited Charles Kemble's ‘Readings from Shakspeare’ in 3 vols. in 1870.