Thomas Uwins

Thomas Uwins RA RWS (24 February 1782, in London – 26 August 1857) was a British portrait, subject, genre and landscape painter in watercolour and oil, and a book illustrator.

He was a day scholar at Mr. Crole's school in Queen's Head Lane, Islington, for 6 years, and in 1797, at the age of 15, was apprenticed to the engraver Benjamin Smith (d. 1833).

In 1798, Uwins entered the schools of the Royal Academy, London, and joined Sir Charles Bell's anatomical class, supporting himself mainly by painting portrait miniature.

He also - now or later - gave lessons in drawing, and about 1808 began to design frontispieces and vignettes to Thomas Day's "The History of Sandford and Merton", 'Robinson Crusoe' and others, for J. Walker of Paternoster Row.

One of his drawings exhibited at the academy in 1808 was a portrait of Charles Warren's daughter, Mrs. Luke Clennell, as Belphoebe in Spenser's 'Faerie Queene'.

From 1809 to 1818 he was a constant contributor to the society's exhibitions, sending illustrations of works by Henry Fielding, John Bunyan, Shakespeare, Laurence Sterne, and other authors, besides numerous pastoral scenes and figures.

There he settled for the winter in Rome where he met a number of English artists, including Charles Eastlake and Joseph Severn.

He also encouraged his friend to adopt similar themes to his own for his paintings and Uwin's subject matter began to include peasants and bandits in imitation of Eastlake.