John Hoppner RA
Portrait of Miss Mary Benwell, c. 1790
Oil on canvas
30 x 25 in. (76.2 x 63.5 cm)
Philip Mould & Co.
To view all current artworks for sale visit philipmould.com This portrait of a young woman in an extravagant ''picture hat'' is traditionally identified as a Miss Benwell, perhaps Mary...
To view all current artworks for sale visit philipmould.com
This portrait of a young woman in an extravagant ''picture hat'' is traditionally identified as a Miss Benwell, perhaps Mary Benwell (fl.1761-c.1800) the portrait painter.
Nominally the son of a German doctor and a Lady in Waiting to the Princess of Wales, John Hoppner was dogged by rumours that he was the illegitimate son of the future King George III. No strong evidence has ever been discovered to support the allegation, but it is true that in his education and early career Hoppner benefited from a considerable degree of royal sponsorship. He was brought up as a child of the Chapel Royal, tutored in the Royal Library where King George paid great attention to his progress and finally presented with an allowance from the royal purse in order that he might establish himself as a painter.
His early success justified these attentions, and he won a Gold Medal at the Royal Academy Schools in 1782, exhibiting frequently from 1780 until the year before his death. In 1789 he was appointed painter to the Prince of Wales, many of whose circle he painted.
His early works display a great debt to the later portraits of Reynolds, but he soon developed an individual style that is distinguished by bravura and vivacity, combined with a strong feeling of character. From the 1790s he was also the only serious rival to the young Lawrence and with him was responsible for painting the finest Romantic portraits of the Regency period. These works (of which the present portrait is a fine example) show a deliberate move away from the classicism of Reynolds, towards a more emotionally engaging yet naturalistic image.
This portrait of a young woman in an extravagant ''picture hat'' is traditionally identified as a Miss Benwell, perhaps Mary Benwell (fl.1761-c.1800) the portrait painter.
Nominally the son of a German doctor and a Lady in Waiting to the Princess of Wales, John Hoppner was dogged by rumours that he was the illegitimate son of the future King George III. No strong evidence has ever been discovered to support the allegation, but it is true that in his education and early career Hoppner benefited from a considerable degree of royal sponsorship. He was brought up as a child of the Chapel Royal, tutored in the Royal Library where King George paid great attention to his progress and finally presented with an allowance from the royal purse in order that he might establish himself as a painter.
His early success justified these attentions, and he won a Gold Medal at the Royal Academy Schools in 1782, exhibiting frequently from 1780 until the year before his death. In 1789 he was appointed painter to the Prince of Wales, many of whose circle he painted.
His early works display a great debt to the later portraits of Reynolds, but he soon developed an individual style that is distinguished by bravura and vivacity, combined with a strong feeling of character. From the 1790s he was also the only serious rival to the young Lawrence and with him was responsible for painting the finest Romantic portraits of the Regency period. These works (of which the present portrait is a fine example) show a deliberate move away from the classicism of Reynolds, towards a more emotionally engaging yet naturalistic image.
Provenance
C. Brinslay Marlay; Camille Groult Collection, Paris.
Exhibitions
Leeds, 1868, no. 1041 lent by B. Marlay Esq.; L'Art Anglais a Bagatelle, June 1905.
Literature
W. McKay and W. Roberts John Hoppner p20 and p331; Gabriel Mourey La Peinture Anglaise au I Seme siecle, illustrated.