Explore: George Thomas Doo

(1800 - 1886)

George Thomas Doo was born in Southwark, London. Nothing is known of his parents or childhood. After visiting Parisian engraving schools, he set up his own academy in London. He studied engraving under C. T. Heath and took on a pupil, T. L. Grundy, before working for publisher F. G. Moon. In 1836 he was appointed Historical Painter in Ordinary to William IV. Queen Victoria renewed the appointment in 1842. In 1851 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society. He later studied oil painting under French portraitist C. A. Suisse. Doo’s portraits of the 1850s were exhibited at the Royal Academy, of which he became a member in 1857, retiring in 1866. He later became President of the Artists’ Annuity Fund. He died aged 86, at his home in Surrey.