Details

Name

John Graham Gilbert

Brief Biography

1794–1866, Scottish

Occupation

Painter

Description

John Graham-Gilbert was a portrait painter. He was born in Glasgow, and worked in the counting house of his father, who was a West India merchant, before taking up painting. He entered the RA schools in 1818, winning the gold medal for historical painting in 1821 and thereafter spent two years in Italy. He established himself as a portrait painter in Edinburgh in 1827, and 1834 he married, adding his wife’s surname of Gilbert to his own, and moved to Yorkhill House, Glasgow, where he practiced until his death. He made several visits to the continent, in the course of which he acquired his valuable collection of paintings, which was bequeathed to the city by his widow. Among them was Rembrandt’s 'Man in Armour'. Graham-Gilbert was elected RSA in 1829.