James Barry RA (11 October 1741 – 22 February 1806) was an Irish painter, best remembered for his six-part series of paintings entitled The Progress of Human Culture in the Great Room of the Royal Society of Arts in London.

His Death of General Wolfe, in which the British and French soldiers are represented in very primitive costumes, was considered a falling-off from his great style of art.

The difference between them is said to have been widened by Burke's growing intimacy with Sir Joshua Reynolds, and by Barry's jealousy of the fame and fortune of his rival "in a humbler walk of the art".

In 1773 it was proposed to decorate the interior of St Paul's with historical and sacred subjects; but the plan fell to the ground, from not meeting with the agreement of the bishop of London and the Archbishop of Canterbury.

This recommendation was not relished, and in 1799 Barry was expelled from the academy soon after the appearance of his Letter to the Dilettanti Society, an eccentric publication, full of enthusiasm for his art and at the same time of contempt for the living professors of it.

During his time at the Royal Academy of Arts, Barry painted The Thames (or Triumph of Navigation) in 1791,[8] which featured the English music historian Charles Burney.

After the loss of his salary, a subscription was set on foot by the Earl of Buchan to relieve him from his difficulties, and to settle him in a larger house to finish his picture of Pandora.

[10] The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica has this to say: As an artist, Barry was more distinguished for the strength of his conceptions, and for his resolute and persistent determination to apply himself only to great subjects, than for his skill in designing or for beauty in his colouring.