Robert Cleveley

Marine painter Robert Cleveley was born in London in 1747. He began his career as a sailor and was inspired by his surroundings to take up a career as a painter of maritime scenes, often with a contemporary, but now historical, theme including, for example, Nelson on St. Joseph and Triumph from Earl Howe. Cleveley exhibited his work between 1767 and 1806 at the Free Society and at The Royal Academy. Twelve of his water-colours are now held in the Kensington Museum and a further collection is exhibited in Manchester. Cleveley died an extraordinary death, tumbling from the cliffs of Dover in 1809