W. S. Burton was born in London, the City of London, on 1 June 1824, the only child of William Evans Burton, an actor and playwright, and his wife Elizabeth Loft. The family's financial situation was always precarious and at one point his father was in debtor's prison. The father deserted the family and fled to Philadelphia in the United States where he found considerable financial success as a theatrical entrepreneur. Burton entered King's College on the Strand in 1836 and remained there until the age of sixteen.
After leaving school in 1842 he became a student at the Government School of Design. A printseller Henry Palser allowed Burton use of a garret studio in his premises at 366 Strand and commissioned illustrative work from the budding artist. He was befriended by the prominent journalist Tom Taylor who admired a painting Burton had copied at the National Gallery and found him work at Punch designing capital letters for illustrations in early numbers of the magazine as well as doing illustrations for Once a Week.
Burton received his principal art training at the Royal Academy Schools where he was accepted as a probationer in July 1846 and became a full student in December 1846. He had some success as a student winning a gold medal in 1851 for his painting Delilah begging the Forgiveness of Samson in Captivity. Although he exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1846, Burton is now best known for his Pre-Raphaelite masterpiece The Wounded Cavalier of 1856. The painting created a sensation at the time but unfortunately this was Burton's only major Pre-Raphaelite picture. He did, however, become a founding member of the Hogarth Club in December 1858.
Burton married his first wife, his cousin Marian Rainford, in March 1857. By the spring of 1861 the couple were living in St. Peter Port, Guernsey. His wife died unexpectedly in Lambeth in 1862. Burton subequently remarried in St. Peter Port on December 3, 1863 to Mina Elizabeth Adlington, a novelist. In 1868 the Burton family moved to Italy and did not return until 1876. They spent most of this time in Florence. In Italy Burton was plagued by severe financial difficulties and poor health, including failing eyesight, that greatly hampered his career. He virtually abandoned painting during much of the 1880s. He was persuaded to take it up again around 1889 when his health improved and he became more productive. That same year he illustrated his wife's novel for children entitled Annabel. His later works are primarily religious subjects. Burton died at Lewisham, London, on January 26, 1916. He was buried in Ladywell cemetery.
Bibliography
Cowling, Mary. "William Shakespeare Burton (1824–1916)". British Art Journal XV No. 2 (Winter 2014/15) 77–86.
Dibdin, Rimbault. 'William Shakespeare Burton,' The Magazine of Art, 1900, 289-95.
Purcell, John S. "A Veteran Artist: Mr. William Shakespeare Burton," The English Illustrated Magazine XXXV (1906): 238-48.
Created 16 June 2024