William Bell (artist)
William Bell, born about 1734/5, was an English portrait painter originally from Newcastle upon Tyne. In around 1768 he moved to London, to be a student in the Royal Academy of Arts. While there, in the year of 1771, he received a gold medal for his painting of Venus entreating Vulcan to forge arms for her son Æneas. William Bell's best-known works were the portraits painted for the family of Delaval, of Seaton Delaval Hall. These paintings earned Bell the patronage of Lord Delaval, and in 1775 he exhibited two views of Delaval Hall. A portrait he painted of Robert Harrison, 1715-1802, is displayed in the National Portrait Gallery, London. William Bell died on 8 June 1794 and was buried on 10 June, in St Andrew's Church, Newcastle upon Tyne; his death was reported in the Newcastle Courant thus: "DIED, Sunday morning, Mr William Bell, an eminent Portrait Painter, whose memory will be esteemed at long as his animated productions remain, many of which bear testimony to his abilities in this part of the kingdom".Gallery
