Arthur William Devis

Arthur William Devis painted portraits and history pictures in late Georgian England. He is best known for The Death of Nelson, based on sketches he made aboard HMS Victory after the Battle of Trafalgar.

He was born in London in 1762, the son of the painter Arthur Devis, who was known for small, elegant conversation pieces. As a young man he sailed as a draughtsman with the East India Company, was shipwrecked in the Pacific and later worked in India, where he painted portraits in Bengal. Back in England he exhibited at the Royal Academy for about forty years.

After Trafalgar in 1805 he went on board the Victory and drew Nelson’s body and the crew, and his painting of the admiral’s death was a public sensation. He died in London in 1822.