George Folingsby

Who was George Folingsby?

George Frederick Folingsby was an Irish/Australian painter and art educator.

Folingsby was born in the County of Wicklow, Ireland. At the age of 18 he emigrated to Canada. Later he went to New York, studied drawing and contributed illustrations to magazines of the day, including Harper's Magazine. In 1852 he went to Munich and spent two years at the drawing school of the Royal Academy. He then went to Paris and for a few months was a pupil of Thomas Couture. Returning to Munich he worked for five years under Carl von Piloty.

In 1864, Folingsby's picture Bunyan in prison, was purchased by the National Gallery of Victoria. He continued to live in Munich but occasionally exhibited in Ireland and England; his The first lesson was hung in the Royal Academy in 1869 and Lady Jane’s victory over Bishop Gardener in 1871. He was awarded medals for historical paintings at the exhibitions held at Vienna in 1871 and Philadelphia in 1873.

Folingsby arrived in Melbourne, Australia with his ten year old daughter, on 1 July 1879.