Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 5

George Knapton
Portrait of a Girl, 18th Century Oil Old Master

About the Item

George Knapton 1698-1778 Portrait of a Girl Oil on canvas Image size: 20 x 18 inches Original giltwood frame This beautiful half length portrait  of a young woman, turned to left, gazing at the spectator, wearing a pink, white lace-embroidered, dress, in her hair a pink bonnet trimmed with lace to match her dress. The depiction of a young girl epitomises child portraiture of the late eighteenth century, in which painters such as William Beechey, Joshua Reynolds, Thomas Gainsborough had begun to discover and express the true character of children, in contrast to the stiff, miniature-adults of previous generations. The Artist Knapton was born in Lymington, one of four sons of James Knapton. He was apprenticed to Jonathan Richardson from 1715 to 1722, and in 1720 was a founding subscriber to the academy of St. Martin's Lane established by Louis Chéron and John Vanderbank. He spent three years in practice on his own, and was one of the six young founders of the Roman Club in 1723. Thereafter he spent seven years in Italy, from 1725 to 1732, where he acquired considerable knowledge of the old masters. He was a founding member of the Society of Dilettanti, formed in Rome in the early 1730s, and as its official portrait painter, executed between 1741 and 1749 twenty-three portraits of members of the society in a variety of fancy dress; these are his principal claim to fame. Although Knapton painted such large canvases as the group portrait of Augusta, Princess of Wales, and her children, he was best known for his work in pastel, of which he was the finest practictioner in Britain in the 1730s and 1740s. He executed some of the portraits of historical worthies that were engraved for Thomas Birch's Illustrious Persons of Great Britain, published by his brothers in two volumes in 1743 and 1751; and, as a distinguished connoisseur, he was asked to catalogue the pictures at Althorp (1746) and survey the royal collection (1750). Knapton seems to have given up painting after about 1755. He succeeded Stephen Slaughter as surveyor of the king's pictures in 1765, and died in Kensington in December 1778.
  • Creator:
    George Knapton (1698-1778, British)
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 20 in (50.8 cm)Width: 12 in (30.48 cm)
  • More Editions & Sizes:
    1 of 1Price: $9,935
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    London, GB
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU5248322272
More From This SellerView All
  • Portrait of Joseph Benwell Original Oil Painting 18th Century
    By Sir Allan Ramsay
    Located in London, GB
    Sir Allan Ramsay 1713-1784 Portrait of Joseph Benwell Oil on canvas, inscribed with sitter's name and dated 1756 Image size: 31 x 25 inches Original ...
    Category

    1750s Old Masters Portrait Paintings

    Materials

    Oil, Canvas

  • Portrait of Sir Edward Littleton, First Baron Lyttleton, Old Masters Oil
    By (After) Anthony Van Dyck
    Located in London, GB
    After Sir Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641) Portrait of Sir Edward Lord Littleton, First Baron Lyttleton (1589-1645) Oil on canvas Image size: 96 by 76 cm Hand carved auricular frame Sir Edward Littleton was Solicitor-General to Charles I, 1634-40; Chief Justice of Common Pleas, January 1640-January 1641; Lord Keeper, 1641-45. Painted in his robes, and wearing the chain of office...
    Category

    17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

    Materials

    Oil, Canvas

  • PORTRAIT OF WILLIAM WARHAM, Old Masters Oil on Wood
    Located in London, GB
    after HANS HOLBEIN THE YOUNGER 1497 – 1543 PORTRAIT OF WILLIAM WARHAM Oil on canvas Image size: 38 x 35 inches (89 x 71 cm) Hand made period style frame The handling of the paint in...
    Category

    18th Century and Earlier Old Masters Portrait Paintings

    Materials

    Oil, Canvas

  • Portrait of a Lady, 17th Century Flemish Oil Old Masters
    By Jacob Huysmans
    Located in London, GB
    Jacob Huysmans Flemish 1633 - 1696 Portrait of a Lady Oil on canvas Image size: 49 x 40 ¼ inches Gilt frame Huysmans was born in Antwerp and came to England during the reign of Charles II where he became one of the fashionable painters of the court.. The diarist Samual Pepys noted the artist as capable of a more exact likeness than Lely. Certainly the diarist records that by August 1664 in the circle of Queen Catherine...
    Category

    17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Oil, Acrylic

  • Portrait of Conrad Friedrich Hurlebusch, Early 18th Century Oil Painting
    By Dominicus van der Smissen
    Located in London, GB
    Dominicus van der Smissen Early 18th Century Portrait of Conrad Friedrich Hurlebusch Oil on canvas Image size: 20½ x 16¼ inches Period gilt frame This is a portrait of Conrad Friedrich Hurlebusch, composer, Kapellmeister and organist, whom Van der Smissen most probably portrayed during his stay in Hamburg, Brunswick or Amsterdam. The identification is based on the reproduction of the portrait which was engraved by Pieter Anthony Wakkerdak (1740- 1774). Van der Smissen has reduced the face of the sitters to an egg-shaped oval in three-quarter view, applying diminution to one half of the figure’s torso, which is farther away from the viewer. This partial side view, with the head turned to look at the viewer over the shoulder, creates spatial depth and brings the figure to life by avoiding the stiffness of a frontal depiction. Because the artist chose to highlight the figure from above, a distinct shadow is cast under the tip of the nose, in the shape of a triangle. This is an often recurring and almost ‘signature’-like feature in Van der Smissen’s oeuvre. Hurlebusch's garments are of a very high quality and serve to reflect the sitter’s wealth, status and elegance. During this period, gentlemen often shaved their heads in order to facilitate the wearing of a wig, which wouldbe worn with a suit. Here Hurlebusch has been depicted in a luxurious turban-like cap lined with lynx fur, a highly fashionable and expensive material at the time. Over his shirt, he wears a velvet fur-lined gown adorned with decorative clasps fashioned from silver braid. The elegant informality of his appearance can be seen in his unbuttoned shirt and the unfastened black ribbon hanging from his button hole, which has been artfully arranged into a fluttering drape by the portraitist. The Sitter Hurlebusch was born in Brunswick, Germany. He received the first instructions in his field from his father Heinrich Lorenz Hurlebusch, who was also a musician. As an organ virtuoso, he toured Europe, visiting Vienna, Munich and Italy. From 1723 to 1725 he was Kapellmeister in Stockholm; later he became Kapellmeister in Bayreuth and Brunswick, and lived in Hamburg from 1727 to 1742, where he had contact with fellow composers Johann Mattheson and Georg Philipp Telemann. He made his living composing, performing and teaching. In 1735 and 1736, he is believed to have visited Johann Sebastian Bach in Leipzig, who promoted Hurlebusch’s compositions as the local seller...
    Category

    Early 18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Oil

  • Portrait of a Lady, Old Masters 18th Century Oil
    By Thomas Hudson
    Located in London, GB
    Thomas Hudson 1701 – 1779 Portrait of a Lady Oil on canvas Image size: 30 x 25 inches Original carved giltwood frame Hudson had many assistants, and employed the specialist drapery ...
    Category

    18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

    Materials

    Oil, Canvas

You May Also Like
  • 17th century Dutch portrait of a Lady in Red adorned with Pearls
    By Pieter Nason
    Located in Bath, Somerset
    Portrait of a lady, half-length in a feigned oval wearing a ruby coloured silk gown holding entwined strings of pearls across her bodice. Signed 'PNason' and dated 1667 (lower right)...
    Category

    17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

    Materials

    Oil, Canvas

  • Baroque Italian painter - 17th century figure painting - Mary Magdalene
    Located in Varmo, IT
    Circle of Bernhard Keilhau, known as Monsù Bernardo (Helsingør 1624 - Rome 1687) - Maddalena. 64 x 79.5 cm without frame, 82 x 98 cm with frame. Antique oil painting on canvas, in ...
    Category

    Late 17th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Oil

  • Antique Italian painter - 18th-19th century figure painting - Oil on canvas
    Located in Varmo, IT
    Bolognese painter (18th-19th century) - Maddalena. 70 x 50 cm without frame, 89 x 69 cm with frame. Antique oil painting on canvas, in a carved and gilded wooden frame. Condition ...
    Category

    Late 18th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Oil

  • Religious painter (Italian school) - Early 19th figure painting - Virgin Madonna
    Located in Varmo, IT
    Italian painter (early 19th century) - Mater Dolorosa. 37 x 33 cm without frame, 53 x 48 cm with frame. Ancient oil painting on canvas, in an ancient carved and gilded wooden frame...
    Category

    Early 19th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Oil, Canvas

  • Fine 18th Century British Oil Painting Mother & Infant Child in Adoration
    Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
    Mother & Child British artist, late 18th century after the painting by Sir Anthony van Dyke oil on canvas, unframed canvas : 20 x 18 inches provenance: private collection, Berkshire,...
    Category

    18th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Oil, Canvas

  • The Virgin in Adoration - 17th Century Italian Old Master Religious Oil Painting
    Located in Sevenoaks, GB
    A beautiful late 17th century Italian Old Master oil on canvas depicting The Virgin in Adoration, circle of Carlo Maratta. Excellent quality early Italian work, presented in an ant...
    Category

    17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Oil

Recently Viewed

View All