English art
English landscapes
English concept art

English Portraiture 1700 to 1900

The English aristocracy required portraits of itself. These had been furnished in the Seventeenth Century by Dutch artists who can come to London to paint and were well paid. This continued to be true in the Eighteenth Century as well but local artist began to take over the trade, and the tradition of great English portraiture started.

John Sanders

born: English?
died: London?

John Sanders is claimed to be a scene painter in Shakespeare's Theater Company, this portrait surfaced in Spring 2001 in Eastern Canada. Make of it what you will.

Sir Peter Lely

born: Soest, [then Westphalia] Germany; 14 October 1618
died: London, England; 7 December 1680

Thomas Gainsborough

born: Sudbury, England; 14 May 1727
died: London, England; 2 August 1788

Six more Gainsborough paintings.

Sir Joshua Reynolds

born: Plympton, England; 16 July 1723
died: London, England; 23 February 1792

Reynolds was primarily a portrait painter. As a personality he dominated English artistic life in the middle and late 18th century. He attempted to lead painting away from the indigenous anecdotal pictures of the early 18th century toward the formal style in favor in France and the Low Lands.

Reynolds was the first president of the Royal Academy ( founded in 1768). He was knighted by King
George III.

Mrs. Siddons was an actress on the London stage. In this portrayal Reynolds records her as the tragic muse. This is one of my very favorite pictures from this period; the ostentation and seriousness is more than I can take, it makes me laugh every time I see it. I wonder how Reynolds saw it. Gainsborough also did a painting of Mrs. Siddons; it makes and interesting comparison.

Here are some more conventional portraits.

Other work:

• Miss Bowles with her Dog, 1775, Wallace Collection, London.
• Captain Robert Orme, 1756, National Gallery, London.

Sir Thomas Lawrence

born: Bristol, England; 13 April 1769
died: London, England; 7 January 1830

John Constable

born: East Bergholt, England; 11 June 1776
died: London, England; 31 March 1837

Constable tried many styles of painting, here is a portrait of his wife showing how well he was capable of portraiture. There are several more pictures by Constable in the English Landscape Gallery which is his home territory, and for which he is famous.

The original of this picture is badly cracked, and has been lovingly restored by the staff. To get a feeling for the original check the information booth on the ground floor.

  John Singer Sargent

born: Florence, Italy (American parents); 12 January 1856
died: London, England; 15 April 1925

Nine more Sargent portraits.

John Singleton Copley

born: Boston, Massachusetts; 3 July 1738
died: London, England; 9 September 1815

He was born and raised in Boston, and he became the leading portrait artist in America, but at age 36 he moved to London (1774). Copley's American work is in the Gallery of American Colonial Art on this floor.

Other Works:

• Nathaniel Hurd, about 1765, Museum of Art, Cleveland.

Sir Henry Raeburn

born Stockbridge, near Edinburgh, Scotland; 4 March 1756
died Edinburgh, Scotland; 8 July 1823

  James Abbott McNeill Whistler

born: Lowell, United States; 14 July 1834
died: London, England; 17 July 1903

Whistler was raised in the United States, went to West Point, worked as a cartographer for the US Navy, and then he went to Paris in 1855 (at 21 years old) to study painting. In 1859 he moved to London and settled there. There is more Whistler in the Modern English Conceptual Paintings Gallery on this floor.

Thomas Carlyle

Mrs Francis Leyland

Whistler's Mother

John William Waterhouse

born: Rome, Italy (of English parents); 6 April 1849
died: London, England; 10 February 1917

  Aubrey Vincent Beardsley

born: Brighton, England; 21 August 1872
died: Menton, France; 16 March 1898

English art
English landscapes
English concept art