(c) 2021 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston

George Washington Wilson

Scottish, 1823 - 1893

BiographyA hugely successful businessman, George Washington Wilson had left home at twelve to be a carpenter and subsequently trained as a portrait painter before turning to photography in 1853. By the 1860s he owned printing works in Aberdeen that produced thousands of prints with views from all over Britain every year. Later his catalogue grew to include pictures from the Continent and the rest of the world. One of his first clients was Prince Albert who asked him to photograph the rebuilding of Balmoral Castle. Queen Victoria continued to commission work from Wilson after her husband's death.

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Born 7 February 1823; died 9 March 1893. In 1857 Wilson first began to photograph war ships. In 1859 he photographed scenes of Edinburgh and called them "Scottish Gems." In 1860 Wilson was appointed photographer to Queen Victoria in Scotland. In 1862-1864 Wilson contributed to the illustration of 'Ruined Abbeys & Castles of Great Britain & Ireland.' Wilson was a founding member in 1863 of the Liverpool Amateur Photographic Association. By 1880 he had established the largest publishing company of topographical views in Britain called "G.W. Wilson & Co.".

https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/artists/george-washington-wilson EM 8/12/2019

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Last Updated8/7/24

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