Artist
Arthur Devis
English, 1712–1787
Arthur Devis was an English Rococo painting painter. 21 works are cataloged here, principally at Art Institute of Chicago, most of them oil paintings. Arthur Devis was born in Preston.
Arthur Devis (19 February 1712 – 25 July 1787) was an English painter whose father, Anthony, was progenitor of what became a family dynasty of painters and writers. The place of Arthur Devis in art history is generally as painter of the type of portrait now called a conversation piece. After moving to London and apprenticeship to a Flemish topographical artist there, he switched to portraiture and acquired a considerable reputation, although this success did not last.
Unable to adapt to later fashionable artistic currents, his commissions declined and his work was largely forgotten after his death until the 20th century revival of interest in the conversation piece.
Works by Arthur Devis
Collections represented
Artists in a similar vein
