Richard Buckner (1812-1883)

Richard Buckner (1812-1883), was an English portrait painter. He was the son of Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Buckner (1772-1837), of Whyke House, Rumboldswhyke, Chichester, Royal Regiment of Artillery and a Deputy Lieutenant of Sussex, (a son of Admiral Charles Buckner), by his wife Mary Marsh Pierce. Buckner first worked in a studio in Whyke House, his family home. After serving in the army in 1832 and 1833 as a Second Lieutenant in The King's Royal Rifle Corps he studied painting under Giovanni Battista Cassevari in Rome. While in Rome Buckner gave advice to Frederick (Lord) Leighton, later PRA, when he was starting his career. Buckner lived in and had his studio in Cleveland Row, opposite St James's Palace, in London. He first painted miniatures but then changed to painting larger portraits. He painted Italian genre subjects and later elegant and fashionable Victorian ladies. He first sent work to galleries for sale in 1840. Buckner's commission book has entries from 1840-1 to 1877. It lists 989 commissions, a few of which were not executed. It also includes a financial summary from 1842-3 to 1874-5 with fees totalling £67249. Many engravings based on his works are in the National Portrait Gallery, London. His oil paintings Portrait of a boy and Portrait of a Boy Chorister of the Chapel Royal are in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Eight National Trust properties have Buckner paintings; images for most of them can be seen on the NT website. There are also works by Buckner at the British Museum, the National Army Museum, Windsor Castle, Osborne House, Woburn Abbey, the Birmingham Art Gallery, Harewood House, the Foundling Hospital, County Hall, Maidstone and Castle Leslie in Ireland. Queen Adelaide, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert commissioned some of his paintings. He exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts in 1842 and then every year from 1846 to 1877; 77 paintings in all of which only 7 were of Italian subject and was nominated as a candidate for the academy. He also exhibited 22 paintings at The British Institution, 44 at The Royal Society of British Artists, 3 at The Grosvenor Gallery and 3 at The Royal Scottish Gallery.