AELBERT CUYP (1620-1691) An Evening Landscape with Figures and Sheep (1655-60) Oil on canvas (101 x 153 cm) Buckingham Palace, Royal Collection To enlarge the image, right-click on it and "Open in a new tab" Cuyp was one of the most popular artists with British collectors during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. George IV …
A Conversation in Rome
NATHANIEL DANCE (1735-1811) A Conversation Piece: James Grant of Grant, John Mytton, The Hon. Thomas Robinson, and Thomas Wynn (1760-61) Oil on canvas (96 x 123 cm) Philadelphia Museum of Art To enlarge the picture, right-click on it and "Open in a new tab" Nathaniel Dance's career resemble that of other British artists of that …
Miss Elizabeth Linley
THOMAS GAINSBOROUGH (1727-1788) Miss Elizabeth Linley, later Mrs Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1775) Oil on canvas (76 x 63 cm) Philadelphia Museum of Art "She is really beautiful, her complexion a clear, lovely, animated brown, with a blooming colour on her cheeks; her nose, that most elegant of shapes. Grecian, fine luxurious, easy-sitting hair, a charming forehead, pretty …
Purity and Meekness
POMPEO BATONI (1708-1787) Purity of Heart (1752) Meekness (1752) Oil on canvas (98 x 74 cm) Uppark, West Sussex, UK To enlarge the images, right-click on them and "Open in a new tab" The following paragraphs belong to Alastair Laing's excellent book (1) published by the National Trust and the National Gallery for the magnificent exhibition …
The Housekeeper
THOMAS BARBER (1768-1843) Mrs Garnett (c.1800) Oil on canvas (89,5 x 69 cm) Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire, UK To enlarge the image, right-click on it and "Open in a new tab" Mrs. Garnett was the housekeeper at Kedleston between 1766 and 1809. This is a surprising length of time for one who must have risen to …
A Royal Concert
PHILIPPE MERCIER (1689-1760) Frederick, Prince of Wales and his Sisters making Music at Kew (c.1734) Oil on canvas (77,5 x 57 cm) Cliveden, Buckinghamshire, UK To enlarge the picture, right-click on it and "Open in a new tab" Philippe Mercier was born in Berlin, the son of a French Huguenot tapestry worker. He studied painting …
Nocturnal Self-Portrait
RICHARD MORTON PAYE (1750-1821) Self-portrait of the Artist Engraving (1783) Oil on canvas (73,5 x 60,5 cm) Upton House, Warwickshire, UK To enlarge the picture, right-click on it and "Open in a new tab" Richard Morton Paye was a painter, engraver and modeller. His name first appeared in 1773 when he sent two oil paintings …
Mother and Daughter
JOHN HOPPNER RA (1758-1810) Lady Caroline Capel and her daughter Harriet Oil on canvas (236 x 145 cm) Plas Newydd, Isle of Anglesey To enlarge the picture, right-click on it and "Open in a new tab" Lady Caroline (1773-1847) had been married in 1792 to the Hon. John Capel (1769-1819), the first son of the …
John Palmer
THOMAS GAINSBOROUGH (1727-1788) Portrait of John Palmer (c.1775) Oil on canvas 76 x 63,8 cm Philadelphia Museum of Art To enlarge the picture, right-click on it and "Open in a new tab" John Palmer (1743-1818) is remembered in the history of the English stage as the manager of the Bath Theatre in Orchard Street, which, …
An Allegory
PHILIPPE-LAURENT ROLAND (1746-1816) Allegorical Group with the Bust of an Architect (1780-90) Terracotta: Height 67,3 cm Paul J. Getty Museum, Los Angeles To enlarge the picture, right-click on it and "Open in a new tab" The son of a wood carver, Philippe-Laurent joined the atelier of the famous Agustin Pajou (1730-1809) at the age of …
Old Masters 