Francis Hayman
British, ca. 1708-1776
NationalityBritish
BiographyFrancis Hayman was possibly born in Exeter, around 1708 and died in London, February 3, 1776.Hayman is best known for his role in establishing the popularity of small-scale group portraits known as "conversation pieces." Apprenticed to the decorative painter Robert Brown from 1718 to about 1725, Hayman commenced his professional career as a theatrical scene painter. He began painting portraits and conversation pieces in the late 1730s, and in the early 1740s created light-hearted rural scenes for the supper boxes of Jonathan Tyers's pleasure gardens at Vauxhall. He was a member of the St. Martin's Lane Academy and a friend of William Hogarth, traveling with him to France in 1748. An important figure in the establishment of the Society of Artists (which he chaired from 1765 to 1768), he also became a founding member of the Royal Academy.
Person TypeIndividual
British, 1692-1780
Alternative Names: Joseph Highmore
British, 1747-1801
Alternative Names: Francis Wheatley
British, 1712-1787
Alternative Names: Arthur Devis
British, 1697-1764
Alternative Names: William Hogarth
German, 1723 - 1787
Alternative Names: Karl Friedrich Abel
British, 1787-1849
Alternative Names: William Etty
British, 1734-1797
Alternative Names: Joseph Wright of Derby
British, 1755 - 1846
Alternative Names: Sir William Miller, Lord Glenlee
British, 1751 - 1797
Alternative Names: Jeremiah Milles
British, 1736 - 1819
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British, 1775 - 1856
Alternative Names: Hon. Theresa Parker, later Hon. Theresa Villiers