Richard Dighton - Artist

Robert Dighton (c.1752 – 1814) was an English portrait painter, printmaker, and caricaturist. In the 1770s Dighton began acting and singing in plays at the Haymarket Theatre, Covent Garden and Sadler’s Wells while at the same time training and exhibiting at the Royal Academy; entering the Royal Academy in 1722. Much of Dighton’s early work was issued anonymously, but by the early 1790s it became increasingly well-known and he began etching and publishing under his own name. In awkward poses and with ruddy faces, Dighton’s satirical caricatures included lawyers, military officers, actors and actresses who were seen about town, as well as down-at-heel types. In 1795 he brought out a Book of Heads and thenceforth devoted himself chiefly to caricature. His work is noted as being less savage than that of his contemporaries, James Gilray and George Cruikshank. By the start of the century, his success allowed him to open a shop in Charing Cross, where he sold his own prints and those of others.