Paul Sandby - A true star of Georgian Edinburgh Street Art
Paul Sandby by Francis Cotes
Paul Sandby - A true star of Georgian Edinburgh and The Highlands of Scotland street art! His remarkable work includes an impressive collection of wonderful sketches that vividly capture Edinburgh street life from around 1746 to 1750. As a talented watercolourist, printmaker, and dedicated collector, he offered a unique perspective of the bustling urban environment of his time.
Born in Nottingham, where he was baptised in 1731 (though his date of birth has traditionally been recorded as 1725), he moved to London in 1745. There, he joined his brother Thomas at the Board of Ordnance, marking the beginning of a significant chapter in his career.
Paul Sandby played an important role in the survey of the Scottish Highlands following the Jacobite Rebellion, helping to document the landscape and its people during a transformative period. Sandby’s View near Loch Rannoch is famous for its link to the Military Survey of Scotland, known as 'the Great Map.' This extensive mapping of the country was done by the Board of Ordnance after the Jacobite defeat at Culloden.
From the 1750s onward, he became actively involved in the campaign to establish the Royal Academy, and in 1768, he was appointed as the drawing master to the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, further contributing to the artistic education of his contemporaries.
