John Raphael Smith
Self-Portrait, aged 31, c. 1753
Pastel on paper, laid onto canvas
10 7/10 x 9 inches, 27.3 x 22.9cms
Philip Mould & Co.
To view all current artworks for sale visit philipmould.com Smith began his career as an apprentice to a linen draper, but scraped his first mezzotint in 1769 and eventually...
To view all current artworks for sale visit philipmould.com
Smith began his career as an apprentice to a linen draper, but scraped his first mezzotint in 1769 and eventually became the most celebrated producer of prints of the period. He was also a painter, and had a particular talent for portraiture in pastel, which provided him with a lucrative practice of up to forty sitters a week at two guineas a head. His patrons included prominent Whigs such as the Duke of Bedford, Lord Holland and Charles James Fox. The present pastel is thought to be Smith’s first self-portrait.
Smith began his career as an apprentice to a linen draper, but scraped his first mezzotint in 1769 and eventually became the most celebrated producer of prints of the period. He was also a painter, and had a particular talent for portraiture in pastel, which provided him with a lucrative practice of up to forty sitters a week at two guineas a head. His patrons included prominent Whigs such as the Duke of Bedford, Lord Holland and Charles James Fox. The present pastel is thought to be Smith’s first self-portrait.
Provenance
Collection of E E Leggatt by 1914; English Private Collection.
Exhibitions
'18th Century Pastel Portraits in the Collection of D.H.Leggatt', Leggatt Galleries, London, July 1947, no.56 (illustrated).
Literature
R. Edwards, ‘J. R. Smith and his pupils’, The Connoisseur, Vol. 93 (1934), p.96; Richard Walker, National Portrait Gallery, Regency Portraits (London 1985), Vol.I, p.460.
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