SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS (1723-1792) Captain John Hayes St. Leger (1778) Waddesdon Manor, Buckinghamshire, Great Britain Oil on canvas (240 x 147 cm) (To enlarge the picture, right click on it and chose "Open in a new tab") John Hayes St. Leger (1756-1800) was a famous rake of the late 18th century. He was the son …
Tag: Georgian artists
A Welsh fop
FRANCIS COTES (1726-1770) Richard Myddleton MP (c. 1760=65) Oil on canvas (127 x 101 cm) National Museum of Wales (To enlarge the image, right-click on it and choose "Open in a new tab") Richard Myddelton (1726-1795) could well be considered the quintessential MP, as he did not do anything at all, mind you MPs in …
The Earl of Chesterfield
WILLIAM HOARE RA (1707-1792) Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield Pastel on paper (66.7 x 48.6 cm) Location unknown To enlarge the images, right-click on them and choose "Open in a new tab" William Hoare is the kind of artist that deserves to be better known. Unfortunately, for him, he was the contemporary of Sir …
A dashing Guards officer
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS (1723-1792) Captain George K. H. Coussmaker (1782) Oil on canvas (238 x 145 cm) Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York To enlarge the picture, right-click on it and choose "Open in a new tab" Painted in 1782, this is one of Reynolds' finest works. He devoted an exceptionally large number of sittings …
A triple portrait
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 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 Morbid Sitter
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS (1723-1792) George Augustus Selwyn (c.1764-66) Oil on canvas (99 x 76 cm) The Earl of Rosebery, Dalmeny House, near Edinburgh Apart from being an example of Reynolds' artistic virtuosity, this portrait is fascinating because it represents a distraught individual whose face does not reveal his morbid character. According to Nicholas Penny: "George …
Grace Dalrymple Elliot
THOMAS GAINSBOROUGH Grace Dalrymple Elliot (c.1778) Oil on canvas (76 x 63 cm) The Frick Collection, New York To enlarge the image, right-click on it and "Open in a new tab" It is very difficult to do justice to Gainsborough's portraits, sometimes it seems that there are not enough words in the English language to …
Old Masters 