Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Cartwright, Joseph
CARTWRIGHT, JOSEPH (1789?–1829), marine painter, was apparently a native of Dawlish in Devonshire, and was attached to the navy in a civil capacity. When the Ionian Islands came into the possession of the English, he was appointed paymaster-general of the forces at Corfu, which post he held for some years. On his return to England he published a volume entitled ‘Views in the Ionian Islands,’ and henceforth devoted himself to art, and especially to painting marine subjects and naval engagements. He exhibited many pictures at the Royal Academy, the British Institution, and the Society of British Artists, and obtained a great reputation in his particular line. In 1825 he was elected a member of the Society of British Artists, and in 1828 he was appointed marine painter to H.R.H. the Duke of Clarence, lord high admiral of England. He died, much esteemed and regretted, at his apartments at Charing Cross, on 16 Jan. 1829, aged about forty. Among his principal pictures were ‘The Burning of L'Orient at the Battle of the Nile,’ ‘The Battle of Algiers,’ ‘The Battle of Trafalgar,’ ‘The Port of Venice at Carnival Time,’ ‘H.M.S. Greyhound and H.M.S. Harrier engaging a Dutch Squadron in the Java Seas,’ ‘Frigates becalmed in the Ionian Channel,’ ‘A Water-spout off the Coast of Albania.’
[Redgrave's Dict. of Artists of the English School; Graves's Dict. of Artists; Gent. Mag. xcix. (1829) 187; Annual Register, 16 Jan. 1829; Times, 17 Jan. 1829; Catalogues of Exhibitions at the Royal Academy, the British Institution, and the Society of British Artists.]