Robert West (painter)
Robert West was an Irish artist, draughtsman and teacher. He was born in Waterford, where his father was an alderman. He studied drawing and painting at the French Academy under François Boucher and Jean-Baptiste van Loo.
He founded a drawing school in George's Lane, Dublin in the 1730s, and from 1744 was commissioned by the Dublin Society to teach pupils. In 1757, the Dublin Society established a drawing school, with West as Master, which would later develop into the National College of Art and Design. He was Master of the school from its foundation until 1763, when he suffered from a mental illness, and Jacob Ennis took over as Master. West again became Master of the school on the death of Ennis in 1770, although he too died the same year. He was succeeded as Master by his son Francis Robert West and his grandson Robert Lucius West.
