Leslie, Charles

PORTRAIT PAINTER, ILLUSTRATOR (GREAT BRITAIN)
BORN 19 Oct 1794, London - DIED 5 May 1859, London: Abercorn Place, St. Wood
BIRTH NAME Leslie, Charles Robert
GRAVE LOCATION London: Kensal Green Cemetery, Harrow Road, Kensal Green (055/2 (15036))

Charles Robert Leslie's parents were Americans but he was born in London. The family returned to the USA when he was five years old. He was educated in Philadelphia and worked as an apprentice to a bookseller. But he was more interesting in painting and drama. When the actor George Frederick Cooke visited Philadelphia he created a small portrait of him that attracted so much attention that he was enabled to study in Europe.

In 1811 he went to London where he studied at the Royal Academy and received to silver medals. He was friendly with Washington Irving and Coleridge and he illustrated Irving's "Knickerbocker History of New York and Sketch-book" and also painted his portrait.

His first important painting was "Saul and the Witch of Endor" but he turned to cabinet-pictures depicting the works of Shakespeare, Cervantes, Molière and others. In 1825 he married Miss Stone, a well known beauty at that time. In 1826 he became a full member of the Royal Academy.

He went to the USA in 1833 to become a drawing teacher at the military academy in West Point, but after six months they returned to England on his wife's insistence. In 1843 his biography of his friend John Constable was published and "Handbook for Young Painters" followed in 1855. He died in 1859.

Related persons
• travelled with Collins, William
• was a friend of Constable, John
• wrote about Constable, John
• painted Irving, Washington
• illustrated work of Irving, Washington

Events
23/2/1847Burial of William Collins at Paddington Green Churchyard. At the Saint Mary on Paddington Green Churchyard in London. He was buried in the grave where his mother Margaret and his brother Frank were buried before. Among those present were his wife Harriet, his sons Wilkie and Charles, the painters Thomas Uwins and Charles Leslie and his friend Joseph Bullar as well as his brother John Bullar. [Collins, Charles Allston][Collins, Wilkie][Collins, William]

Images

The grave of Charles Robert Leslie at Kensal Green Cemetery, London.
Picture by Androom (17 Aug 2017)

 

Sources
Paths of Glory, The Friends of Kensal Green Cemetery, London, 1997
Charles Robert Leslie - Wikipedia


Lesseps, Ferdinand, vicomte de

Published: 25 May 2019
Last update: 11 Oct 2021