Explore: Robert Carver

(c.1730 - 1791)

Robert Carver was born in Dublin, the son of the painter Richard Carver (d. 1754). He was taught by his father and also studied under Robert West (active 1735-1770) at the Dublin Society Schools. Although he exhibited watercolours at the Dublin Society of Arts from 1765 to 1768 and at the Free Society of Artists in London in 1765, his main profession was as a stage painter. He moved to London where he worked for actor and playwright David Garrick (1717-1779) at the Drury Lane theatre from 1770 to 1774, later transferring to the Covent Garden Theatre. Carver was also a successful painter in oils and exhibited at the Royal Academy and the Incorporated Society of Artists. He died at his home in Bow Street, Covent Garden, in November 1791.