Cross, Richard

Richard Cross was born on April 24, 1742 in Knowle, a parish in Callompton ( en: Cullompton ) ^[1] in Devon County , in the family of John and Mary Cross, and was his second son ^[2] . His father was a lawyer and a small nobleman . From birth, Cross was deaf and dumb, as was one of his sisters. In total, he had at least six brothers and sisters.

Cross was in love with his cousin Miss Sarah Cobley, but she married British artist Benjamin Haydon . Cross loved Sarah so much that he never married because of this. From this unrequited love, he suffered all his life. In 1807, Cross again met with his sister Sarah Kobley, in connection with the fact that she decided to visit her brother after she found out that she was suffering from a deadly, incurable disease. They hugged tightly, but the next day she died. Cross died 3 years later, in May 1810, at his old family home in Knowley.

Cross perceived his drawing as a hobby, since it was in fashion among the nobility of that time. At the age of 16, he received an award from the Society for the Promotion of the Arts, Producers and Commerce ( en: Royal Society of Arts , Society of the Arts) in London. He then moved to London and, like Richard Cosway and John Smart, studied at the new drawing school with William Shipley, founder of the Royal Society of the Arts. He also studied at the gallery under the Duke of Richmond .

Cross exhibited his works at exhibitions in London: at the first and subsequent exhibitions in the Society of Artists 1760-1796, the Free Society 1761-1766, the second and subsequent exhibitions of the Royal Academy 1770-1796. Basil Somerset Long, a British artist, art historian, and custodian of the "Department of Paintings" at the Victoria and Albert Museum, in his book "British Miniaturists" (1929) called Cross very accurate portrait painter who painted without hesitation and retouching and who in one a wonderful day received recognition for his work ^[3] .

Since 1760, Cross lived and worked in his house at Henrietta Street, near Covent Garden in London . His brother held the house and was a translator between him and his clients. Despite the fact that he could neither hear nor speak, Cross was a very successful miniature portrait painter and was highly appreciated by customers. His clients were the Prince of Wales , the Dukes of Cumberland and Gloucester, and other aristocrats. He also painted many portraits of his family, in particular his brother, who cared for him. He painted his works mainly in watercolor on ivory. In addition, he performed miniatures in enamel and made portraits in oil. Many of his portrait miniatures were small in size and at least 2 inches high. It should be noted that miniaturists of the period 1760-1780 were still poorly able to draw on ivory, since it has a greasy surface on which it is difficult to paint with watercolors. Therefore, miniaturists of this period used ivory from 1 ½ to 2 inches in height. During the 1780s and 1790s, Cross used large ivory sizes from 3.5 inches or more in height. In this regard, his fees increased from 8 guineas for small works to 30 guineas for large portraits. In just a year, he managed to make about 60 portrait miniatures, with a total cost of about 570 £. In 1788, he completed a 26.4-inch-high portrait in pencil by King George IV when he was Prince of Wales. ^[4] Cross's portraits looked realistic. His work has a greenish-blue tint, presumably due to the fact that he fell under the influence of the painter Joshua Reynolds . In addition, in Cross's works, red pigments have now faded over many years.

According to the fashion of the time ( en: 1750–75 in Western fashion ), women wore hair high on their heads. But despite this, Cross succeeds on a small piece of ivory to place not only the woman’s head, but also her shoulders. Men in his works often wore powdered wigs. He rarely signed his work. In the late 1790s, Cross retired to Wales and lived with his brother Miss Cobble.

Cross received quite significant amounts from his portraiture. He also received personal income from membership of the local nobility. He wisely invested his money in real estate, stocks and bonds and received a good income from these investments in the last years of his life. He retired as a wealthy man and lived with his brother Sarah.

In the late 1790s, he left commercial painting and died in 1810.

Now his work is stored in the National Art Library of the Victoria and Albert Museum. The collection includes not only portrait miniatures, but also books in which the price for each sold work is fixed. For example, in March 1763, Mrs. Gummings paid three guineas, eight shillings for her son's miniature. Earl Weldon paid six guineas, six shillings for the image of his deceased child. In addition, these papers show that he supported his family. For example, in 1779, Richard Cross gave £ 2,000 to Elizabeth's sister.

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  Richard Cross Portrait of an Unknown Guy, 1770, Victoria & Albert Museum.

• Foskett, Daphne. Miniatures: Dictionary and Guide. - London: Antique Collectors' Club, 1987 .-- ISBN 1-85149-063-9 .
• Basil Somerset Long. Richard Crosse, Miniaturist and Portrait-painter. - nineteen??. - T. Volume of the Walpole Society (Volume 17). - 94 p.

• Victoria and Albert Museum, miniatures gallery
• Sebastian Cunliffe. Deaf History: Richard Crosse BSL Zone. Date of treatment April 18, 2014.
• Victoria and Albert Museum . Date of treatment April 18, 2014.