James Digman Wingfield (1812–1872) was a British painter, known mainly for historical subjects, as well as for landscapes, portraits, and interiors.
Wingfield was a memberVilla Decor: Decidedly French and italian Style by Betty Lou Phillips: Layton, Utah, Gibbs Smith, Publisher, 2002 of the Royal Academy, where he displayed a number of portraits in 1835-1836. From then until 1872 he exhibited more than 38 works at the Royal Academy, 94 at the British Institution, and 41 at Suffolk Street Exhibitions (later to become the Royal Society of British Artists).A Dictionary of Artists Who Have Exhibited Works In The Principal London Exhibitions of Oil Paintings From 1760 To 1880. Compiled By Algernon Graves, London: George Bell And Sons, York Street, Covent Garden, 1884. He had a successful career: individual works by Wingfield were priced at around 100 pounds during his lifetime.The Royal Academy of Art: A Complete Dictionary of Contributors, Volume 8, by Algemon Graves Wingfield was a resident of London during the period that he was activePainters and Their Works: a Dictionary of Great Artists Who are Not Now Alive by Ralph N. James 1896, London: L. Upcott Gill and County Printing Works and scenes of London were featured in his works.
Occasionally his paintings depicted specific incidents in literature or history; Pope was a favorite.The Royal Academy of Arts (Volume: 8); A Complete Dictionary of Contributors and Their Work from Its Foundation in 1769 To 1904; Algernon Graves, London: Henry Graves & Co. Ltd., 1906 In his later years he painted interiors and garden and park scenes, with figures in period costume. His 1849 painting of the Schönheitsgalerie, or female portrait gallery, in Hampton Court was especially well received. The painting was used for the cover of a recent (2005) historical work, Tudor and Stuart Britain, 1485–1714, by Roger Lockyer.
Wingfield died in the spring of 1872; his works were sold by Christie's in July 1872.Dictionary of painters and engravers: biographical and critical, Volume 2 by Michael Bryan, Robert Edmund Graves, Sir Walter Armstrong; London: George Bell and Sons, 1889
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