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John Phillip Reading
John Phillip Reading

John Phillip Reading

Artist (Chatham, England, 1819 - 1886)
Sitter (Aberdeen, Scotland, 1817 - 1867)
Datec. 1839
Mediumpencil on paper
ClassificationsPaintings And Drawings
DimensionsOverall: Height: 11.3 cm, Width: 9 cm
Frame: Height: 43.3 cm, Width: 31.7 cm
AcquisitionPurchased in 1978 with assistance from the National Fund for Acquisitions.
CopyrightOut of copyright - CC0
LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub
Object numberABDAG000095
About MeIn 1836 John Phillip enrolled at the Royal Academy schools. There he socialised with a group of fellow artists, some of whom were to become his closest friends. They included his exact contemporaries Richard Dadd (1817-1886). Along with Henry O'Neil, William Powell Frith and Augustus Egg they formed a sketching club, which they called The Clique. The Clique met once a week, often in Dadd's rooms in Great Queen Street, devoting an hour or two to sketching, in pen and ink, illustrations of passages from Shakespeare, Byron and other literary works.

Phillip became romantically involved with Dadd's sister Maria and they were married on 24th September 1844. This followed Dadd's incarceration for the murder of his father, which took place on 28th August 1843. Maria had already experienced her first attack of the mania that had affected her brother so catastrophically and she too was later hospitalised, having become a danger to her children.

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