William Blundell Spence

Portrait by Alfred Stevens, 1851

William Blundell Spence (13 January 1814 – 23 January 1900) was an English painter and art dealer.

Born in Drypool, Yorkshire to noted entomologist William Spence and his wife Elizabeth Blundell, he spent the years 1826-1832 travelling abroad with his parents. In 1836, he settled in Florence, Italy, where he spent the rest of his life.[1]

As a painter, he specialized, mainly painting Alpine landscapes. At the 1870 Exhibition of Fine Arts in Parma, he exhibited an oil: Bagni of Lucca. Among other works are Dallo Porte Sante and La pensierosa. At Florence, in 1882: Veduta della Marina. In 1885, in the same city: Veduta del Chalet Plauta.[2]

Though not himself an entomologist, he joined the Entomological Society of London at its founding in 1833 and was noted as its longest-surviving original member.[3]

  1. ^ Fleming, John (1979). "Art Dealing in the Risorgimento II". The Burlington Magazine. Vol. 121, no. 917. pp. 492–494, 497–500, 502–508. JSTOR 197908.
  2. ^ ‘‘Dizionario degli Artisti Italiani Viventi: pittori, scultori, e Architetti.’’, by Angelo de Gubernatis. . Tipe dei Successori Le Monnier, 1889, page 491.
  3. ^ Verrall, G. H. (1900). "The President's address: Obituary". Transactions of the Entomological Society of London: xlii.