School of Art

Contact Details

School of Art
Aberystwyth University
Buarth Mawr
Aberystwyth
Ceredigion
SY23 1NG

Tel: +44 (0)1970 622460

Fax: +44 (0)1970 622461

Email: artschool@aber.ac.uk


Display artist/maker:

William Wynne Ryland

Born: 1732, UK, England, London   Died: 1783, UK, England, Tyburn

Engraver. Son of Edward Ryland (d. 1771?), engraver and copperplate printer. Studied printing under his father as an apprentice in the Stationers' Company; drawing at the St Martin's Lane Academy; and engraving under Simon François Ravenet (1706-1764). He later travelled to France to complete his training, studying figure drawing under François Boucher (1703-1770) and etching under Jacques Philippe le Bas (1707-1783). Upon his return to England Ryland found considerable success, and his engraved portraits of the Prince of Wales and Lord Bute earned him the position of engraver to the king. Ryland's printing business with partner Henry Bryer (d. 1799) became prosperous, exploiting a surge of interest in British contemporary art and being the first to buy paintings from the Society of Artists exclusively to make prints of them. His career survived a near-disastrous bankruptcy in 1771, but in 1783 Ryland was accused of issuing forged bills. His attempted fleeing and later attempted suicide suggested his guilt; on the 29th August 1783 he was executed at Tyburn.

Objects in the collections associated with this artist/maker

[Woman, child and young man at a fountain] PR79 Prints




 
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