1. opie, john English artist, born near Truro, Cornwall; began to learn his father's trade of carpenter, but turning to art went with Dr. Wolcott to London in 1780; for a year he had phenomenal success as a portrait-painter; on the wane of his popularity he turned to scriptural and historical painting and to illustration; after being Associate for a year he was elected Academician in 1787; besides some lectures on art, he wrote a Life of Reynolds and other works (1761-1807).
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