William Mulready. William Mulready was an Irish genre painter living in London.
He is best known for his romanticizing depictions of rural scenes, and for creating Mulready stationery letter sheets, issued at the same time as the Penny Black postage stamp. William Mulready was born in Ennis, County Clare.
Early in his life, in 1792, the family moved to London, where he was able to get an education and was taught painting well enough so that he was accepted at the Royal Academy School at the age of fourteen. In 1802, he married Elizabeth Varley, a landscape painter.
She came from a family of established artists; her brothers included John Varley, friend of William Blake, Cornelius Varley, and William Fleetwood Varley. Their three children, Paul Augustus, William, and Michael also became artists.
His relationship with his wife however deteriorated gradually over the years, which is detailed in papers stored at the library of the Victoria and Albert Museum. His strong Catholic beliefs prevented any chance of a divorce but they separated. He accused her of bad conduct but shied from providing details. In a letter to him in 1827 she blamed him entirely for the collapse of their marriage, suggesting cruelty, pederastic activities and adultery were the reasons, writing that one of his pupils, Harriet Gouldsmith, had told her Malready preferred her little finger to his wife and children, and accusing hi
He is best known for his romanticizing depictions of rural scenes, and for creating Mulready stationery letter sheets, issued at the same time as the Penny Black postage stamp. William Mulready was born in Ennis, County Clare.
Early in his life, in 1792, the family moved to London, where he was able to get an education and was taught painting well enough so that he was accepted at the Royal Academy School at the age of fourteen. In 1802, he married Elizabeth Varley, a landscape painter.
She came from a family of established artists; her brothers included John Varley, friend of William Blake, Cornelius Varley, and William Fleetwood Varley. Their three children, Paul Augustus, William, and Michael also became artists.
His relationship with his wife however deteriorated gradually over the years, which is detailed in papers stored at the library of the Victoria and Albert Museum. His strong Catholic beliefs prevented any chance of a divorce but they separated. He accused her of bad conduct but shied from providing details. In a letter to him in 1827 she blamed him entirely for the collapse of their marriage, suggesting cruelty, pederastic activities and adultery were the reasons, writing that one of his pupils, Harriet Gouldsmith, had told her Malready preferred her little finger to his wife and children, and accusing hi
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