Frederick William Keyl

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} thumb|Keyl, photographed in the 1860s. '''Frederick William Keyl''' (originally '''Friedrich Wilhelm Keyl'''; 17 September 1823 – 5 December 1871), born in Germany, was an animal painter in England; he received many commissions for paintings from Queen Victoria.

==Life== Keyl was born in Frankfurt am Main, son of a wine merchant, and showed at an early age an interest in drawing animals. He studied at the Städelsches Kunstinstitut in Frankfurt under Jakob Becker, and later was a pupil of Eugène Verboeckhoven in Brussels.<ref name=dnb00>{{cite DNB|first=Lionel Henry|last=Cust|authorlink=Lionel Henry Cust|wstitle=Keyl, Frederick William|volume=31|page=86}}</ref><ref name=odnb>{{cite ODNB|id=15499|title=Keyl, Frederick William [formerly Friedrich Wilhelm]}}</ref>

From 1847 he lived permanently in England, and was naturalized in 1858. He was the only pupil of Edwin Landseer, and through him Keyl was introduced to Queen Victoria and Albert, Prince Consort. He obtained many commissions from the royal family, producing oil paintings, watercolours and sketches, and painting photographs; a notable commission was to paint Looty, the Queen's Pekingese. Apart from royal patronage, work included book illustrations, and plates for the ''Illustrated London News''.<ref name=dnb00/><ref name=odnb/>

[[File:Friedrich Wilhelm Keyl - Looty (1861).jpg|thumb|''Looty'' (1861), in the Royal Collection.]] Keyl was a frequent exhibitor at the Royal Academy of Art and the British Institution, though he was by nature averse to exhibiting his pictures.<ref name=dnb00/>

In 1852 he married Sara Constance Woodlin, a niece of the painter C. R. Leslie. They had nine children, of whom three died in infancy. Keyl died at his home in St John's Wood, London, probably of consumption, on 5 December 1871, and was buried at Kensal Green Cemetery.<ref name=odnb/>

==References== {{Commons category|Friedrich Wilhelm Keyl}} {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keyl, Frederick William}} Category:1823 births Category:1871 deaths Category:Painters from Frankfurt Category:German painters of animals Category:19th-century German painters Category:19th-century German male artists Category:19th-century English painters Category:Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery