Life
1769-1850; b. Dublin, 20 Sept.; RDS scholar under West; became portrait
painter in crayon, and went to London, June 1788; entered RA schools on
advice of Reynolds; accepted for exhibition, 1791, 1792; elected associate
member of Royal Academy [ARA], 1798; full member, [MRA], 1800; elected
President in 25 Jan. 1830, on death of Sir Thomas Lawrence; knighted 1830;
persuaded to continue as RA President after failure of health; writings
include Rhymes on Art (London 1809); Elements of Life, poem
in six cantos (London 1809); Commemoration of Sir Joshua Reynolds
&c., and Other Poems (London 1814); Alasco, trag. in
verse [condemned by Lord Chamberlain] (London 1824; NY 1825); novels Old
Court (1819) and Harry Calverley (1835); d. Brighton, 19 Aug.
NOTE PI CAB DIB DNB OCIL
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Notes
Henry
Boylan, Dictionary of Irish Biography (Dublin: Gill &
MacMillan 1988); notes the he was assiduous in defence of profession (‘ready
to break a lance with the vandalism of the day’); secured charter
of RHA and made Hon. member; poems, two novels, and a tragedy; voted £300
and asked to remain when his health caused him to offer his resignation
to RA; d. Brighton, 19 Aug. [Entry clearly derived from CAB]
Ann Crookshank and the Knight of Glin, Irish Portraits 1600-1860 [Catalogue] (1969), calls him ‘one of the last painters in the grand manner and his work, until recently, has been much underrated.’ (p.21.)
Arnott & Robinson, English theatrical literature 1559-1900: A Bibliography (London: Society for Theatre Research 1970), lists Alasco, a tragedy in 5 acts, excluded from the stage [by the Licenser, George Colman, and then the Lord Chamberlain]; also Rejected Passages (reported but not seen). Shee ‘rashly’ withdrew his play rather than modify it.
British Library holds Old Court (1829); Harry Calverley (3 vols, 1835); Alasco (1824, 1825); Commemoration of Reynolds (1814).
Belfast Public Library holds Rhymes on Art (1806).
See Cuttings in Belfast Linenhall Library (34a. 116).
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Notes
The celebrated ‘Hounslow Boy’, a case of injustice in a British
naval academy in which Carson acted as barrister for the boy against the
Admiralty, dramatised by Rattigan, was an Archer Shee.
Samuel Lover inscribed to his Legends and Tales of Ireland (1821), as follows: ded. To Sir Martin Archer Shee, P.R.A., ‘A painter - A Poet - and An Irishman, This Volume is Very respectfully inscribed by The Author.
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Princess Grace Irish Library (Monaco)