author
George Scharf
1820–1895
A Victorian art scholar and illustrator, he helped shape how Britain collected and studied portraiture. Best known as the National Portrait Gallery’s first director, he brought a careful eye for history, attribution, and visual detail to everything he did.
1 Audiobook
The Palace and Park Its Natural History, and Its Portrait Gallery, Together with a Description of the Pompeian Court
by Samuel Phillips, Edward Forbes, R. G. (Robert Gordon) Latham, Richard Owen, George Scharf, F. K. J. (Francis Kingston John) Shenton
About the author
Born in London in 1820, he was the son of the artist George Johann Scharf and trained at the Royal Academy Schools. Early in his career he traveled widely in Europe and the eastern Mediterranean, producing drawings and observations that built his reputation as a skilled draughtsman and observer.
He became closely linked with the National Portrait Gallery from its earliest years, serving first as secretary and later as director. In that role, he played a major part in building the collection and establishing high standards for researching, identifying, and documenting historical portraits.
Alongside his museum work, he was known as an illustrator, lecturer, and writer on art. He was knighted late in life and died in 1895, remembered as an important figure in Victorian art scholarship and in the early history of the National Portrait Gallery.