WILLIAM THORNLEY, R.B.A.
(Exh. 1858-1898)
William Thornley was born in England in the 1800s. He was a painter of marines. He was a prolific painter of consistently high standards whose attractive views of shipping off the English, French and Dutch Coasts were exhibited widely during his lifetime.
The first question usually raised about William Thornley is the profusion of names which surround this most popular of English 19th Century Marine Painters. The artist's signatures also include Charles Thornley, Hubert Thornley, William Anslow Thornley and variations of Thornbery, his actual family name.
William Thornley exhibited at all of the major London venues including fifty paintings at The Royal Academy and fifty-four paintings at The Royal Society of British Artists. He was given the honor of being named a R.B.A. (Royal Society of British Artists).
