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Thomas Luny

(1759-1837) Thomas Luny was born in London and was a student of, and assistant to, Francis Holman. His first exhibition was at age sixteen at the Society of Artists; he established his own studio in Stepney in 1781. He exhibited yearly at the Royal Academy from 1780 to 1793, which seems to have been his last exhibition until 1802. During the interim he enlisted in the Royal Navy, where he was a purser and served under Captain George Tobin. Luny retired from the Navy by 1810, suffering from severe rheumatoid arthritis, which confined him to a wheelchair and necessitated his holding his paintbrush in both hands or strapped to his wrist. Despite this disability he painted over two thousand paintings between 1807 and 1835. He kept an inventory of his work, recording the title and price of each painting and the name of the purchaser. His journal indicates that he was in Teignmouth in 1807, where he remained for the rest of his life. Toward the end of his career he hired an assistant, Moses Gompertz, a painter of moving panoramas, to help with his canvases; after Luny's death, Gompertz may have finished some of the artist's unsigned works. Just before his death in 1837, one hundred thirty of Luny's works were exhibited in Old Bond Street. Today he is one of England's most acclaimed marine painters, and his works are in museums throughout England, Europe, and America.

Biography courtesy of Roger King Gallery of Fine Art, www.antiquesandfineart.com/rking

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