Charles Catton (1728–1798)

Charles Catton was a Founder Member of the Royal Academy who served as coach-painter to King George III.

Born in Norwich in 1728, Catton was reportedly one of 35 children from his father’s two marriages. He was apprenticed to the London coach-painter Thomas Maxfield and also studied at the St Martin’s Lane Academy established by William Hogarth. Catton went on to train several apprentices himself, including his younger brother James, his son Charles Catton the Younger, and future Royal Academician William Owen.

Catton established a reputation as a coach-painter and was appointed official coach-painter to King George III. He also reportedly decorated the carriage of Joshua Reynolds, the first President of the Royal Academy, with four panels representing each of the four seasons. He exhibited regularly at the Society of Artists between 1760 and 1768, when he seceded to the newly-founded Royal Academy of Arts as a Founder Member. He worked with Joshua Reynolds, Angelica Kauffman, Benjamin West and Giovanni Cipriani on decorating the Academy’s first official home at Somerset House.