# Richard Houston > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Richard_Houston > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Richard_Houston.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Houston > Source revision: 1279184400 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Irish mezzotint engraver (1721?–1775)}} {{other people}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}} [[File:George Grenville.jpg|thumb|[Mezzotint](/source/Mezzotint) print of [George Grenville](/source/George_Grenville), after a portrait by [William Hoare](/source/William_Hoare).]] '''Richard Houston''' (1721?–1775) was an Irish [mezzotint](/source/mezzotint) engraver, whose career was mostly in London. ==Life== Born in Dublin about 1721, he became a pupil of [John Brooks](/source/John_Brooks_(engraver)), who was also the master of [James McArdell](/source/James_McArdell) and [Charles Spooner](/source/Charles_Spooner_(engraver)).{{cite book |last=De Breffny |first=Brian |author-link= |date=1983 |title=Ireland: A Cultural Encyclopedia |url= |location=London |publisher=Thames and Hudson |page=84 |isbn=}} He came to London about 1747, and some of his early plates bear the address "near Drummond's at Charing Cross". In debt to [Robert Sayer](/source/Robert_Sayer) the print-seller, he was arrested and confined to the [Fleet prison](/source/Fleet_prison); according to Sayer this in order that he might know where to find the dissipated Houston. He was released in 1760, on the accession of George III. As a free agent he was commissioned by [Henry Carrington Bowles](/source/Henry_Carrington_Bowles). Houston died in Hetton Street, London, on 4 August 1775, aged 54. ==Works== [[File:Richard Houston - Morning - B1970.3.965 - Yale Center for British Art.jpg|thumb|[Mezzotint](/source/Mezzotint) of ''Morning'', from a set]] Houston's major works are engravings after [Sir Joshua Reynolds](/source/Sir_Joshua_Reynolds), which include portraits of: * [Elizabeth Percy, Duchess of Northumberland](/source/Elizabeth_Percy%2C_Duchess_of_Northumberland_(1716%E2%80%931776)), full-length; * Caroline, Duchess of Marlborough, and child; * Mary, Duchess of Ancaster; * Maria, Countess Waldegrave, later Duchess of Gloucester, with her daughter; * Elisabeth, Duchess of Argyll, and her son; * [Lady Selina Hastings](/source/Lady_Selina_Hastings); * [Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough](/source/Charles_Spencer%2C_3rd_Duke_of_Marlborough); * [Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield](/source/Philip_Dormer_Stanhope%2C_4th_Earl_of_Chesterfield); and * [Richard Robinson](/source/Richard_Robinson%2C_1st_Baron_Rokeby), archbishop of Armagh. He engraved also: * seven portraits of George III, of which four were after [Zoffany](/source/Zoffany); * six of Queen [Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz](/source/Charlotte_of_Mecklenburg-Strelitz), after [Mary Benwell](/source/Mary_Benwell), [Thomas Frye](/source/Thomas_Frye), Zoffany, and others; * two, after [Antoine Pesne](/source/Antoine_Pesne), of [Frederick II, King of Prussia](/source/Frederick_II%2C_King_of_Prussia), one full-length, the other on horseback; * [John Manners, Marquess of Granby](/source/John_Manners%2C_Marquess_of_Granby), on horseback, after [Edward Penny](/source/Edward_Penny); and full-lengths of * [General Wolfe](/source/General_Wolfe), after Schaak; * [Pasquale Paoli](/source/Pasquale_Paoli), after [Pietro Gherardi](/source/Pietro_Gherardi); * [Voltaire](/source/Voltaire), after Sen; * [Julines Beckford](/source/Julines_Beckford), after [Nathaniel Dance](/source/Nathaniel_Dance); and * [Catharine Wodhull](/source/Catharine_Wodhull) and master James Sayer, both after Zoffany. A series of portraits by him is in [Richard Rolt](/source/Richard_Rolt)'s ''Lives of the Principal Reformers'', London, 1759. Besides portraits, he executed a number of subject plates, such as: * 'The Virgin and Child,' after Raphael; * 'The Temptation of St. Anthony,' after Teniers; * 'The Death of General Wolfe,' after [Edward Penny](/source/Edward_Penny); * 'The Senses,' five plates after [Francis Hayman](/source/Francis_Hayman); * 'The Sciences,' six plates after [Jacopo Amiconi](/source/Jacopo_Amiconi); * 'Avarice' and 'Innocence,' after [Philip Mercier](/source/Philip_Mercier); * 'The Elements,' four plates, and 'The Times of the Day,' two different sets of four plates, also after Mercier; * the 'Miraculous Onyx Stone;' and * plates of running horses, in which he excelled. Houston's early work included his series of portraits of politicians after [William Hoare](/source/William_Hoare),Among them [Earl Temple](/source/Richard_Grenville-Temple%2C_2nd_Earl_Temple), [George Grenville](/source/George_Grenville), [William Pitt the elder](/source/William_Pitt_the_elder), [Henry Pelham](/source/Henry_Pelham), and [Henry Bilson Legge](/source/Henry_Bilson_Legge). as well as plates after [Rembrandt](/source/Rembrandt).They comprise 'The Burgomaster Six,' 'The Syndics,' 'Haman's Condemnation,' 'An old Woman plucking a Fowl,' 'A Man holding a Knife, 'The Pen-maker,' and some others. Houston also etched two small plates of an old man and an old woman, after Rembrandt. For Bowles he engraved religious figures.[John Bunyan](/source/John_Bunyan), [William Romaine](/source/William_Romaine), [Martin Madan](/source/Martin_Madan), [Andrew Gifford](/source/Andrew_Gifford), [Samuel Brewer](/source/Samuel_Brewer), and others. He painted a few miniatures. {{commons category}} ==References== *{{cite DNB|wstitle=Houston, Richard}} ==Notes== {{reflist}} ;Attribution {{DNB|wstitle=Houston, Richard}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Houston, Richard}} Category:1721 births Category:1775 deaths Category:18th-century Irish engravers Category:Artists from Dublin (city) Category:People imprisoned for debt --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Richard Houston](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Houston) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Houston?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.