Farington Papers

1 ms. booklets and 1 volume of 168 letters

Joseph Farington, landscape painter and draughtsman, was a fixture of the London art world from the 1750s right up until his death in 1821. He was one of the students admitted to draw in the Duke of Richmond's sculpture gallery and attended the St. Martin's Lane Academy. He entered the Royal Academy schools in its first year and was elected Associate of the Academy and then full member in 1783 and 1785 respectively.

Never the most successful of artists Farington is now known mostly for his voluminous diary, in which the Royal Academy is the dominent subject. Farington operated among the membership of the Academy to an almost obsessive degree, although he never held any official position. It was ryely commented of Farington that he "ate his way" to the heart of the Academy through his incessant dining of the various cliques and counter cliques that swirled around in the post-revolutionary period.

Farington was of rather robust health, but died after taking a nasty tumble at church, an account of which appears at the very end of his diary.

Documents relating to Farington's involvement with the Royal Academy. Mostly notes preserved to aid him either in out-manoeuvering opponents or as preparatory research for a proposed official history of the institution on its twenty fifth anniversary.

Unknown prior to acquisition.

Presented to the Academy by James Greig, Esq., in 1929. See record for FAR/2 & FAR/4 for seperate acquisition details for those items.

When the archive first entered the Academy no list was made. The H.M.C. finding aid appears to include only part of what was given in 1929, ie. five booklets and the volume of letters. On closer investigation it became clear that another six volumes of notes belonged with the archive. They form, in the main, an index to the minutes of General Assembly and Council and were, in all probability, shelved in the Library in an alternative location and missed by the H.M.C. These additional volumes have been included for this find aid.

Portions of the Archive were included in the H.M.C.'s finding aids, listed by Jean Agnew in 1972.