William Grattan, Landscape and Figure Painter
(fl. 1809-1821)
Landscape and Figure Painter
From A Dictionary of Irish Artists 1913
Younger brother of George Grattan (q.v.), born probably in 1792. He learned his art in the Dublin Society's Schools, obtaining premiums and medals in 1801, 1802,1803 and 1804; and he exhibited landscapes and figure subjects at the Artists' Exhibitions in Dublin in 1809, 1810, 1811, 1812 and 1815. His work appears to have been careful and laboured but possessing little effect. In 1818 he wrote and published a pamphlet, "Patronage Analysed," addressed to the "Royal Irish Institution for the Encouragement of the Fine Arts in Ireland." In this he concludes by saying: "The painters of this country, owing to the great want of patronage, are obliged to desert the higher walks of the profession for whatever employment in the arts the fleeting taste of the moment may proffer." He was living in 1821, but the date of his death has not been found.