1868-1951

He was an English artist, engraver and painter of landscapes, seascapes and animals.

Priestman was born in Bradford in 1868 and first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1889 and from that time until his death in 1951 he gained a reputation as one of the most eminent painters of his time. From 1883 to 1886 he studied under Edwin Moore and from 1888 he attended the Slade School of Fine Art in London where he studied under W.Llewelyn. He was elected a Royal Academician in 1923 and he exhibited alongside Corot, Degas and Boudin in the Goupil Galleries in 1909.

Sir Frank Brangwyn described him as the “finest sky painter of our day” and he is represented in the national collections of Canada, Hungary and Ireland amongst others, as well as in New South Wales and numerous municipal and private collections throughout the world.

He exhibited at Liverpool in 1880, the Royal Academy in London (1890), the Grosvenor Gallery in 1891 and also at the “Exposition Universelle” in Paris (1900) -where he achieved an honourable mention.

Museums that have held his work include; Birmingham, Bradford,Leeds,Munich and Sydney.