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 …
Tag: 18th century British painting
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 …
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 …
An Elderly Lady
GEORGE BEARE (?-1749) Portrait of an Elderly Lady and a Girl (1747) Oil on canvas (127 x 102 cm) Yale Center for British Art, Yale, Connecticut, USA To enlarge the picture, right-click on it and "Open in a new tab" George Beare's distinctive Portrait of an Elderly Lady and a Girl is unquestionably his masterpiece. …
A Modest Gentleman
THOMAS GAINSBOROUGH William Johnstone-Pulteney, later 5th Baronet (1772) Oil on canvas (237 x 150 cm) Yale Center for British Art, Yale, Connecticut, USA To enlarge the picture, right-click on it and "Open in a new tab" In an undated letter addressed by Gainsborough to Johnstone-Pulteney, the artist reveals how much did he care for his …
The Harley Sisters
THOMAS GAINSBOROUGH Anne Harley, Lady Rodney (1758-1840) Martha Harley, Mrs. George Drummond (1757-1788) To enlarge the pictures, right-click on them and "Open in a new tab" It has been said, and I agree with it, that Gainsborough was at his best when portraying women. There is a certain charm that enhances their beauty, the poses …
The Cricket Player
JOHN SINGLETON COPLEY (1738-1815) Richard Heber (1782) Oil on canvas (166 x 130 cm) Yale Center for British Art, Yale, Connecticut, USA To enlarge the picture, right-click on it and "Open in a new tab" Copley was an Anglo-American painter who achieved notoriety in his home town of Boston through hard work and precocious natural …
A Drawing Lesson
JOSEPH WRIGHT ARA (1734-1797) Academy by Lamplight (1768-69) Oil on canvas (127 x 101 cm) Yale Center of British Art, Yale, Connecticut, USA To enlarge the picture, right-click on it and "Open in a new tab" Born to a family of lawyers Joseph Wright decided to become a painter and in 1751 set off to …
A Day Out
FRANCIS WHEATLEY RA (1747=1801) The Browne Family (c.1778) Oil on canvas (70 x 89 cm) Yale Institute for British Art, Yale, Connecticut, USA To enlarge the picture, right-click on it and "Open in a new tab" Wheatley was born in Covent Garden, London; he studied at William Shipley's drawing school and the Royal Academy and …
Portrait of an Actress
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS (1723-1792) Mrs Abington as Miss Prue in “Love for Love” (1771) Oil on canvas (77 x 64 cm) Yale Center for British Art, Yale, Connecticut, USA To enlarge the picture, right-click on it and "Open in a new tab" When this portrait was shown as Portrait of a Lady at the third …
Old Masters 