William Daniels (9 May 1813 – 13 October 1880), was a British painter known for his work in Liverpool.
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Early life
Daniels was born in the Scotland Road district of Liverpool. His father was a former soldier turned brick maker and his mother was a barmaid. Daniels worked with his family in the brickfields from a young age. While working there, his talent for making modelling red clay was noticed by local artist and wood-engraver Alexander Mosses, who taught him drawing and wood engraving. He then served as an apprentice wood-engraver for seven years and received instruction in drawing at the Royal Liverpool Institution.
Career
Daniels was entirely self-taught as a painter – mostly teaching himself at home by candle-light. He often used himself and family members as models, also painting local characters in his work.
The first public exhibition of his work was at the Liverpool Academy of Arts, when he was 17. Seven of Daniels's paintings were exhibited at the Royal Academy, London in 1840 and 1846. He was unsuccessful at establishing a career in London, but built a reputation as a portrait painter in Liverpool. Sir Joshua Walmsley became a patron of Daniels and commissioned three portraits of the Walmsley family. Other patrons from Liverpool's elite circles included Sir Humphry Davy and George Stephenson. Walmsley bequeathed five portraits to the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. Daniels was commissioned to travel to London to complete a portrait of the Duke of Wellington, but was dismissed from the job when he was late for a sitting.