Ralph Hedley

1851 - 1913

Ralph Hedley was a Newcastle genre painter who worked in both oils and watercolours. He was born in Richmond, Yorkshire, in 1851 and studied at the Newcastle School of Art. Later, he became the President of the Berwick Club and Northumbrian Art Institute, as well as a Member of the Society of British Artists.

The subjects of his paintings are usually scenes of the working lives of ordinary people, from labourers and sailors through to veterans, in his native North East, beautifully observed and well executed.

Hedley exhibited at the Society of British Artists as well as the Royal Academy from 1879. His works can be seen in the Sunderland and in the Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle.