SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS (1723-1792) The Honourable Henry Fane with Inigo Jones and Charles Blair (1762) Oil on canvas (254 x 360 cm) Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Joshua was the seventh child of Samuel Reynolds, a schoolmaster, and his wife, Teophila Potter. He would have received a sound classical education under his father who …
A handsome gentleman
SIR PETER LELY (1618-1680) Sir Henry Capel Oil on canvas (126 x 103 cm) The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York To enlarge the picture, right-click on it and choose "Open in a new tab" The artist was the son of a captain of infantry in the service of the Elector of Brandenburg. Born Pieter …
A classical landscape
JOHN WOOTTON (1682-1764) A classical landscape with gypsies (1748) Oil on canvas (140 x 130 cm) Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York To enlarge the picture, right-click on it and choose "Open in a new tab" Born in Snitterfield (Warwickshire) circa 1682, John Wootton is best remembered as a pioneer in the painting of sporting …
A Georgian Beauty
GEORGE ROMNEY (1734-1802) Lady Elizabeth Stanley, Countess of Derby (1778) Oil on canvas (127 x 102 cm) The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York To enlarge the picture, right-click on it and choose "Open in a new tab" Romney received little formal education, having left school at an early age to train with his father, …
The arrogant admiral
FRANCIS COTES (1726-1770) Admiral Harry Paulet, Sixth Duke of Bolton (1765) Oil on canvas (127 x 102 cm) The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York To enlarge the picture, right-click on it and choose "Open in a new tab" The son of a prominent apothecary and the older brother of Samuel Cotes, the miniaturist, Francis …
A Perverse Phenomenon
Anyone who visits an exhibition of the so-called "modern" or "contemporary art" would feel disgusted if not outraged by the blatant and insolent display of obscenities that pretend to be considered works of art. Let's remember the definition of "art": Skill acquired through the study and practice of a technique with the purpose of creating …
Flowers Galore
JACOB WOUTER VOSMAER (1584-1614) Still-Life of Flowers with an Imperial Fritillary in a Stone Niche (1613) Oil on a wood panel (110 x 79 cm) Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam To enlarge the image, right-click on it and choose "Open in a new tab" Jacob Wouter Vosmaer was born in the city of Delft. Very little is known …
An Italian Landscape
NICOLAES BERCHEM (1620-1683) An Italianate Landscape with Herders and their Flocks Oil on panel (36 x 45 cm) Private collection Of the 70 or so Berchems in public collections in Britain more than half are of drovers and milkmaids with cattle in Italianate landscapes, proving both the popularity of this genre and why his name …
Sportsmen in a Landscape
PAUL BRIL (c. 1554-1626) A Wooded Landscape with a Bridge and Sportsmen at the Edge of the River Oil on canvas (86.5 x 66 cm) Private Collection The most influential Italianate landscape painter of his time, Paul Bril was born in Breda c.1554. He trained in Antwerp with Damiaen Ortelmans and, only 14 years old, …
The Vision of St Francis
FEDERICO BAROCCI (c. 1530-1612) The Stigmatisation of St Francis (1594-95) Oil on canvas (360 x 245 cm) Galleria Nazionale delle Marche, Urbino Throughout his late period, Barocci continued to be much occupied with ecclesiastical commissions. Unlike the whole of the 1580's, during which he did not paint a single altarpiece for his native city, some …
Old Masters 