Samuel Jackson

Samuel Jackson (31 December 1794 – 8 December 1869) was an English watercolourist and oil painter who has been called the "father" of the Bristol School of art. He also contributed a number of drawings of scenes from Bristol to the topographical collection of George Weare Braikenridge. The Braikenridge Collection makes Bristol's early 19th-century appearance one of the best documented of any English city. Life Jackson was born on 31 December 1794 in Bristol. His father was an accountant and later a drysalter. Jackson became a professional artist by 1822, primarily a watercolourist of landscapes. In 1823 Jackson was elected an associate member of the Society of Painters in Watercolours. Braikenridge commissioned him to produce less than 30 watercolours, but collected many more of Jackson's Bristol scenes. His Bristol watercolours of the mid 1820s were his most highly regarded work, and have been called the most important part of the work of the Bristol School. John Lewis Roget called him "the father of the school". Jackson was a lifelong friend of Francis Danby, whose influence is present in his watercolours. He may have been Danby's pupil. In 1823 he collaborated with Danby and James Johnson in a lithography project.