John James Barralet
Irish, 1747 - 1815
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John James Barralet was an Irish artist who spent the later part of his career in the United States.
John James Barralet was born in 1747 to a French Family in Dublin. Barralet had joined two classes at The Dublin Society of Drawing schools aged seventeen and he was awarded premium in 1764. He was educated by James Mannin and he was awarded prizes for both 'Drawing of human figures and heads' and 'Inventions in designs and patterns'. He specialised in landscapes, producing prosaic works. He was lauded for his figures which were said to give a lively immediacy to his watercolours. His brother John Melchior Barralet was a teacher in London in The Royal Academy in 1770. He also had a brother Joseph Barralet.
In June 1791, his drawings helped Benjamin Simpson win a competition to a design the gardens in Merrion Square.
He exhibited three landscapes at the Royal Academy in 1770, and occasionally exhibited in succeeding years. He was employed in illustrating books on Irish Antiquities.
In 1795 he emigrated to America, settling in Philadelphia, where he died in 1815.