THOMAS GAINSBOROUGH (1727-1788) Mrs Gainsborough (1778) Oil on canvas (77 x 64 cm) Courtauld Institute Galleries, University of London To enlarge the image, right-click on it, then "Open in a new tab" Gainsborough had been married for over 30 years by the date of this portrait. His marriage to Margaret Burr (1728-1798) was, presumably, a …
Month: May 2018
The Musical MP
THOMAS GAINSBOROUGH (1727-1788) William Wollaston (1758) Oil on canvas (121 x 98 cm) Christchurch Mansion, Ipswich, UK To enlarge the image, right-click on it and then "Open in a new tab" According to Nicola Kalinsky: "This portrait must have been one of the last Gainsborough undertook in Suffolk before he moved from Ipswich. Wollaston (1730-1797). …
An Irish Peer
HUGH DOUGLAS HAMILTON (1739-1808) Robert Stewart, 1st Marquess of Londonderry Oil on canvas (74 x 61 cm) Mount Stewart, Co. Down, Northern Ireland To enlarge the image, right-click on it and then "Open in a new tab" Within the last few years the art of Hugh Douglas Hamilton has begun to attract attention in the …
The Wood Nymph
JEAN RANC (1674-1735) Vertumnus and Pomona (c. 1710-1720) Oil on canvas (171 x 119 cm) Musée Fabre, Montpellier To enlarge the image, right-click on it, then "Open in a new tab" Jean Ranc was initially trained by his father, Antoine, a Montpellier portraitist with a good reputation, and then by Hyacinthe Rigaud (1659-1743) in Paris, …
Madame Crozat
JACQUES-ANDRE-JOSEPH AVED (1702-1766) Portrait of Madame Crozat (1741) Oil on canvas (138 x 100 cm) Musée Fabre, Montpellier To enlarge the image, right-click on it, the "Open in a new tab" Aved was one of the greatest French portraitists of the mid-18th century, ranking with Louis Tocqué (1696-1772), Jean-Marc Nattier (1685-1766), Hubert Drouais (1699-1766), Maurice …
Bacchus and Ariadne
JEAN-FRANCOIS DE TROY (1679-1752) Bacchus and Ariadne (1725) Oil on canvas (163 x 130 cm) Musée Fabre, Montpellier To enlarge the picture, right-click on it and "Open in a new tab" Jean-Francois de Troy, the most important and gifted member of a family of painters from Toulouse, was taught by his father, Francois de Troy …
Saint Sebastian
FRANCOIS-XAVIER FABRE (1766-1837) The Dying Saint Sebastian (1789) Oil on canvas (196 x 147 cm) Musée Fabre, Montpellier To enlarge the image, right-click on it and then "Open in a new tab" Born in Montpellier on 1 April 1766, Fabre was one of the first students to benefit from the education provided by Montpellier's Societe …
A Masterpiece
NICOLAS DE LARGILLIERE (1656-1746) Self-Portrait (c. 1726) Oil on canvas (80 x 64 cm) Musée Fabre, Montpellier To enlarge the picture; right-click on it, then "Open in a new tab" Largillière, a Parisian educated in Antwerp showed at an early age great aptitudes for painting and was apprenticed to Antoine Goubau (1616-1698). He became a …
Alphonse Leroy
JACQUES-LOUIS DAVID (1748-1825) Portrait of Alphonse Leroy (c. 1783) Oil on canvas (73 x 95 cm) Musée Fabre, Montpellier To enlarge the picture, right-click on it, the "Open in a new tab" A student of Joseph-Marie Vien, David was awarded the Prix de Rome in 1774 and went there with Vien from 1775 to 1780. …
An Old Roman Soldier
FRANCOIS ANDRE VINCENT (1746-1816) Belisarius (1776) Oil on canvas (98 x 130 cm) Musee Fabre, Montpellier Vincent initially trained with his father, Francois Elie, a miniaturist from Geneva that had settled in Paris. He was then taught by Joseph-Marie Vien. At the age of 22, he won the Prix de Rome and spent the years …
Old Masters 