(b 1769; d Dublin, 5 April 1852). Irish painter. He received his artistic training at the Dublin Society Drawing Schools, winning a silver medal for figure drawing in 1790. He soon set himself up as a portrait painter, his early works being similar in manner to those of his main Dublin rival, Hugh Douglas Hamilton. It was probably in these early years that he completed Tilly Kettle's portrait of the architect James Gandon (Dublin, N.G.). Cuming was among the artists of Dublin who in 1800, after an absence of 20 years, re-established annual exhibitions in the city. He exhibited a large number of portraits, one of the most notable being that of Vincent Waldr? (1800; Dublin, N.G.). The forceful, rich brushwork of this portrait (somewhat similar to Raeburn in the loose handling of the paint) with the brilliant red chair-cover and the prominent palette and brushes, is in marked contrast to Hamilton's style of controlled conviction and smooth finish which was then dominant. Throughout his career Cuming could be relied upon to paint an excellent face, but beneath the dash of his colourful palette there lay little power of observation.

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