Events

February 28 – The Artists Rifles is established as a volunteer corps of the British Army with headquarters at Burlington House in London.^[1]
May 23 – Dante Gabriel Rossetti marries his model Elizabeth Siddal in Hastings and they depart on honeymoon to Paris.
December 30 – Towarzystwo Zachęty do Sztuk Pięknych ("Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts") holds its first meeting in Warsaw.
Founding of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.

Awards

January 1
- John Cassidy, Irish sculptor and painter (died 1939)
- Jan Vilímek, Czech illustrator and painter (died 1938)
January 29 – William Jacob Baer, American miniature painter (died 1941)
February 21 - Goscombe John, Welsh sculptor (died 1952)
February 27 – Vardges Sureniants, Armenian painter (died 1921)
April 6 – René Lalique, French glass designer (died 1945)
May 30 – Archibald Thorburn, Scottish-born wildlife painter (died 1935)
May 31 – Walter Sickert, English Impressionist painter (died 1942)
June 1 – Hugh Thomson, Irish-born illustrator (died 1920)
June 18
- George Frampton, English sculptor (died 1928)
- Laura Muntz Lyall, Canadian Impressionist painter (died 1930)
June 25 – Sutherland Macdonald, English tattoo artist (died 1942)
August 5 – Louis Wain, English cat portrait painter (died 1942)
August 18 – Iso Rae, Australian Impressionist painter (died 1940)
September 7 – Grandma Moses (born Anna Mary Robertson), American folk artist (died 1961)
September 16 – Solomon Joseph Solomon, English portrait painter (died 1927)
September 30 – Vincenzo Irolli, Italian painter (died 1949)
October 4 – Sidney Paget, British illustrator (died 1908)
date unknown – Iris Nampeyo, Hopi potter and ceramic artist (died 1942)

January 20 – William Charles Ross, British painter of historical paintings, miniatures and portraits (born 1794)
February 16 – Denis Auguste Marie Raffet, illustrator and lithographer (born 1804)
March 28 – Jean-Pierre Franque, French historical subjects and portraiture painter (born 1774)
April 28 – Jakob Guttmann, sculptor (born 1811)
June 15 – Juan Antonio Ribera, Spanish Neoclassical historical painter (born 1779)^[4]
June 20 – Joseph Willibrord Mähler, German portrait painter (born 1778)^[5]
August 22 – Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps, painter (born 1803)
September 21 – Antoine Maurin, French lithographer (born 1793)
October 2 – Louis Hersent, French painter (born 1777)
October 3
- Alfred Edward Chalon, Swiss portrait painter (born 1780)
- Rembrandt Peale, American artist (born 1778)
date unknown
- Julien-Honoré-Germain d'Aubuisson, French portrait and miniature painter (born 1786)
- Dai Xi, Chinese painter of the 19th century and representative of the academic manner (born 1801)
- Louis Stanislas Marin-Lavigne, French painter and lithographer (born 1797)
- Ernestine Panckoucke, French botanical illustrator and flower painter (born 1784)^[6]