William Arthur Breakspeare - Artist

William Arthur Breakspeare (1856-1914) RBA, RBSA was born in Birmingham, the son of John Breakspeare, a flower painter working in the Birmingham japanning trade. Breakspeare lived in Edgbaston until the age of 22. He was apprenticed to the japanners, Halbeard and Wellings, as a decorator. He was closely associated with the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists (RBSA) gallery, exhibiting 34 works from 1874 to 1899. He was one of the first Associates of the RBSA in 1881 and was elected to the RBSA in 1884. He was also a founder member of the Birmingham Art Circle. In about 1884 he visited Newlyn in Cornwall where other ‘Birmingham Boys’ were helping to establish the colony of artists. His work covered many styles including genre, portrait, figure and 18th-century costume pieces and landscape. Breakspeare spent time in Paris, moving there in 1879. Whilst living there he exhibited An Eastern Maid at the RBSA, perhaps showing an influence of Orientalism from his stay. His Parisian stay was short and he moved to Haverstock Hill in London a few years later in 1881. He is understood to have spent the rest of his life there. As well as his training in Paris, Breakspeare was initially trained at the Birmingham Government School of Design and Charles Verlat's Academy in Antwerp. Breakspeare exhibited around eight works at the Royal Academy in London from 1883 to 1893, including To Gretna Green and Bathers.