John Linnell Biography

Linnell was a very versatile artist, able to work in a number of mediums. He worked in both oils and watercolours. He painted miniatures on ivory and was a skilled engraver. Whilst at the Royal Academy he received a medal for drawing from life (1807) and one for life modelling (1810). He became an extremely thriving portrait painter but his real passion was always landscape painting. From the late 1840?s he abandoned portraiture in favour of landscapes. Deeply religious, his work includes Biblical landscapes as well as those of Surrey where he lived from 1851 onwards. Throughout his life, his work was much in demand and he became very prosperous.