1791 in art

Events

• The Society of Artists of Great Britain is dissolved.

Works

• James Barry – The Thames
• Henri-Pierre Danloux – Baron de Besenval in his Study
• Anne-Louis Girodet de Roussy-Trioson – Endymion: Moonlight
• Anton Graff – Friedrich Schiller
• John Hoppner – Dorothea Jordan as Hippolyta
• Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun – Portrait of Hyacinthe Gabrielle Roland
• George Morland – The Slave Trade
• Jean-Laurent Mosnier – Portrait of the Chevalier d'Eon
• Henry Raeburn – Portrait of Sir John and Lady Clerk of Penicuik
• Jacques Sablet – Roman Elegy
• George Stubbs – Equestrian portrait of The Prince of Wales

Births

• January 6 – William Bent Berczy, painter and political figure in Upper Canada
• February 10
• *Francesco Hayez, Italian historical, portrait and political painter
• *Ōtagaki Rengetsu, Japanese Buddhist nun and poet, skilled potter and painter, and expert calligrapher
• February 13 – Sylvester Shchedrin, Russian landscape painter
• February 21 – Hezekiah Augur, American sculptor and inventor
• March 20 – Marie Ellenrieder, German painter
• April 27 – Samuel F. B. Morse, American inventor and painter of portraits and historic scenes
• June 18 – William Cowen, English landscape painter
• August 2 – August Piepenhagen, German painter active in Bohemia
• September 26 – Théodore Géricault, French painter and lithographer, pioneer of the Romantic movement
• December 17 – Samuel Amsler, Swiss engraver
• date unknown
• *Kapiton Pavlov, Russian portrait painter
• *Pyotr Sokolov, Russian aquarelle portraitist
• *Antoine Jean-Baptiste Thomas, French painter and lithographer

Deaths

• January 4 – Étienne Maurice Falconet, French Rococo sculptor
• January 23 – François-Thomas Germain, French silversmith
• January 25 – Giovanni Pichler, German-Italian artist in engraved gems
• February 12 – William Parry, Welsh portrait painter
• March 20 – Marie Jeanne Clemens, Danish engraver and painter, member of Danish Academy of Fine Arts
• June 5 – Giuseppe Ghedini, Italian painter and university professor of painting
• June 22 – Giuseppe Antonio Landi, Italian neoclassical architect and painter of quadratura
• June 30 – Jean-Baptiste Descamps, French painter of village scenes
• October 17 – Per Floding, Swedish designer and engraver
• November 7 – Dorning Rasbotham, English writer and painter
• November 16 – Edward Penny, English portrait and historical painter
• November 25 – Jean-Claude Richard, French painter and engraver
• date unknown
• *Robert Carver, Irish painter, especially of theater scenery
• *Kang Sehwang, Korean politician, painter, calligrapher and art critic