Andrew Nicholl

Andrew Nicholl

Andrew Nicholl (1804-1886) was an Irish artist and illustrator who is considered the first professional painter to work in Sri Lanka during the British Period (Dharmasiri, 1990). Early life Andrew Nicholl was born on 4 April 1804 in Church Lane, Belfast in Northern Ireland as the second son of a boot and shoemaker (Rambukwella, 2014). In his early twenties, Nicholl made his reputation as a landscape painter and in the 1830s he went to London and Dublin where he executed topographical works. In 1837 he joined Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA) and became a full R.H.A. by 1860.  Life in Sri Lanka Nicholl came to Sri Lanka in 1846 as a teacher of landscape drawing, painting, scientific drawing and design to the School of Design at the Colombo Academy (Dharmasiri, 1990; Rambukwella, 2014). At there he became a friend of Sir James Emerson Tennent (1804-1869) the Colonial Secretary of Ceylon from 1846 to 1850 (Dharmasiri, 1990). In 1848 Nicholl toured through the interior of the country with Te…