William Young Ottley. William Young Ottley was an English collector of and writer on art, amateur artist, and Keeper of the Department of Prints and Drawings at the British Museum.
He was an early English enthusiast for 14th-and 15th-century Italian art, or the Italian Primitives as they were then often called. He spent the 1790s based in Rome, where he bought much art; this was sold for a considerable profit in 1801 after his return to London.
He was born near Thatcham, Berkshire, the son of an officer in the Guards. He became a pupil of George Cuitt the Elder, and studied in the Royal Academy of Arts Schools.
In 1791 he went to Italy, and stayed there ten years, studying art and collecting pictures, drawings, and prints, profiting from the turmoil of the French invasion. On his return to England he raised large sums by auctioning his 16th-and 17th-century paintings at Christie's in May 1801, but the earlier works would at that time have found little or no market in England.
He became an arbiter of taste, and assisted collectors in the purchase of works of art and the formation of picture galleries. His own collection of drawings by Italian Old Masters he sold to Sir Thomas Lawrence, a close friend, for E8,000, and his print collection was also very fine. Paintings in his collection included The Mystical Nativity by Botticelli and Raphael's Vision of a Knight, both now in the National Gallery. In 1
He was an early English enthusiast for 14th-and 15th-century Italian art, or the Italian Primitives as they were then often called. He spent the 1790s based in Rome, where he bought much art; this was sold for a considerable profit in 1801 after his return to London.
He was born near Thatcham, Berkshire, the son of an officer in the Guards. He became a pupil of George Cuitt the Elder, and studied in the Royal Academy of Arts Schools.
In 1791 he went to Italy, and stayed there ten years, studying art and collecting pictures, drawings, and prints, profiting from the turmoil of the French invasion. On his return to England he raised large sums by auctioning his 16th-and 17th-century paintings at Christie's in May 1801, but the earlier works would at that time have found little or no market in England.
He became an arbiter of taste, and assisted collectors in the purchase of works of art and the formation of picture galleries. His own collection of drawings by Italian Old Masters he sold to Sir Thomas Lawrence, a close friend, for E8,000, and his print collection was also very fine. Paintings in his collection included The Mystical Nativity by Botticelli and Raphael's Vision of a Knight, both now in the National Gallery. In 1
Wikipedia ...