Attributed to Thomas Lawrence

Attributed to THOMAS LAWRENCE (Bristol, 1769 - London, 1830).
Portrait.
Oil on canvas.
Measurements: 73,5 x 63 cm; 96 x 84 cm (frame).
The author offers us a portrait of great sobriety, dominated by a palette of cold tonalities, which are only qualified with the use of rounded forms that contribute delicacy to the piece as it is observed in the treatment of the handkerchief in the neck. Both the composition and the pictorial execution of this excellent portrait fit with the characteristics of the best English portrait painting of the first quarter of the 19th century, and especially with the work of Sir Thomas Lawrence and his closest circle.
Sir Thomas Lawrence was, after the death of Joshua Reynolds in 1792, Britain's foremost portraitist. His early training took place in Bath, where he learned from William Hoare the technique of pastel, and from Thomas Barker the correct handling of oil paint. In 1787 he moved to London, where he exhibited his first works at the Royal Academy. He began to triumph thanks to his female portraits, such as the one of Elizabeth Farren, where we can already guess certain traits of sensitivity that he would develop in his more mature production. In 1791 he was admitted to the Royal Academy and the following year, after the death of Joshua Reynolds, he became the king's painter. In 1815 he was knighted and that same year the royal family commissioned a series of portraits for the Waterloo Chamber at Windsor Castle. In 1820 he succeeded Benjamin West as president of the Royal Academy. Lawrence's portraits were based on the "great style" of Reynolds, but the Bristol painter opened the way to a new concept of portraiture with respect to the model, his personal demeanor and his emotional portrayal. He knew how to rescue a very personal vision of his clients, typical of the romantic portrait and of the Victorian era. His models are presented in relaxed and natural attitudes, the brushstroke is delicate, imperceptible in the faces and lighter and sketched in the clothes and the landscape, which almost always has an important role.