Author: Donaldson, John
Biography:
Donaldson, John (c 1736/7-1801: ODNB)
He was born at Edinburgh, the son of a glover (possibly James Donaldson). No information about his early life in Edinburgh has been located but in 1756 a drawing of his won a prize from the Society for the Encouragement of Arts. He was mentored by the engraver Richard Cooper. Around 1760 he moved to London and began exhibiting his art there; from 1763 he seems to have worked principally as a miniaturist although his radical political views did not endear him to fashionable society. He published Elements of Beauty (1780 and 1786) in addition to Poems, and he left behind a mass of unpublished material on his death in poverty at Islington. (ODNB 23 Oct 2018)
Other Names:
- J. Donaldson