- Also known as
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William Delacour
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primary name: Delacour, William
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other name: De La Cour, William
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other name: De La Cour
- Details
- individual; painter/draughtsman; French; British; Male
- Life dates
- c.1700-1767
- Address
- Catherine Street, Strand, London (1747)
Mr Read's, Grocer, at the Sign of the Ship, Great Russell Street, Covent Garden (1752)
The Green Door, Winchester Street, New Broad Street (1753)
- Biography
- Portrait, decorative and scene painter, engraver, topgraphical and decorative artists in oil and pastel,and seller of artist materials. Presumably born in France; first recorded in London in 1739 when he engraved Liotard drawings of women in Turkish costume. In 1740, first documented as a scene painter for London theatres; published eight books of ornament between 1741 and 1747, engraved by himself, Vivares or Robert White;1752, calls himself 'portrait painter in oils and pastels'; 1753, in Dublin; in Edinburgh by 1757 where he was still working as a scene painter; 1758, working for John Adam as a decorator (see correspondence in Saltoun papers, NL Scotland); 1760, first director of School of Design set up by Lord Kames; 1761, executed large wall paintings at Yester; many portraits in Scottish collections dating from 1758-65; d. Edinburgh 1767.
Two trade cards in Heal Collection. Heal,89.45 and identical card in Banks Collection (D,2.1563) advertise "De la Cour...Sells the most Beautifull [sic] Crayons of A particular Compositon, the Best of Water Colours, Lead & hair Pencils, Indian Ink, Prints & Drawings, Old & new Ornaments, Landscapes, History &c. He also Designs for all Sorts of Trades, & teaches to Draw & Paint in Water Colours & Crayons to Gentlemen & Ladies both at Home or aBroad [sic]. Compare another card (on large mount) in A.H. collection (Heal,89.46) with the same frame & lettering but with De La Cour's address 'at the Iron Rail, in Coventry Court, Hay Market, St. James's'.
- Bibliography
- Sale catalogue Sc.A.1.3(22) for sale of 1752/3
John Fleming, Enigma of a Rococo Artist, in Country Life, 24 May 1962, pp. 1224-46 Croft-Murray, Decorative Painting II, 1970, pp.199-200
Jacob Simon on NPG website (dictionary of artists' suppliers)
Neil Jeffares, Dictionary of pastellis before 1800
