Nicholson, William

About the artist

Name

Nicholson, William

Biography

William Nicholson was a painter and printmaker, born on Christmas Day, 1781, in Northumberland to an English school master and his Scottish wife. He was a self-taught professional artist, working in both Newcastle and Hull. In Newcastle he studied in the studio of the Italian, Boniface Muss (or Musso); in Hull he painted miniatures – and around 1814 he moved to Edinburgh. By 1820 he was well settled there, and remained in the city for the rest of his life.

He was the first secretary of the Royal Scottish Academy between 1826 and 1830, before handing over his duties to David Octavius Hill. He exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy between 1827 and 1844, and at the Royal Academy between 1808 and 1822. He died in Edinburgh from a fever in 1844.

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