Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
OLD MASTERS
Encompassing centuries of change in Europe between 1300 and 1800, from booms of prosperity to bloody revolutions, Old Masters describes a wide range of artists. The informal term was derived from the title of an artist who trained in a guild long enough to become a master, such as Leonardo da Vinci, who studied in a Florence painters’ guild. However, Old Masters paintings, prints and other art is now used to refer to work made by any artist with a high level of skill in painting, drawing, sculpture or printmaking who worked during this era.
The 15th century’s expansive trade and commerce spread culture across borders. A vibrant period of art emerged, bolstered by studies of anatomy and nature that influenced a new visual realism. From Raphael and Michelangelo in the Renaissance to Rembrandt van Rijn and Johannes Vermeer in the Dutch Golden Age, artists expressed emotion, naturalism, color and light in new ways. El Greco and Paolo Veronese were leaders in the dramatic style of Mannerism, while Caravaggio and Peter Paul Rubens demonstrated the movement and meticulous detail of Baroque art.
Historically, most attention was concentrated on male artists, but recent research and exhibitions have elevated the impactful work of women such as Rachel Ruysch and Artemisia Gentileschi. In late-18th-century France, female artists like Adélaïde Labille-Guiard and Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun were prominent names. Nevertheless, access to the academies and guilds was highly restricted for women, and even those able to establish practices were expected to adhere to portraits and still lifes rather than the grand history paintings being created by men.
Find a collection of Old Masters prints, paintings, drawings and watercolors and other art on 1stDibs.
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Style: Old Masters
Nicolaus Ritter (1777-1797) Selfportrait of the artist, 1793, original drawing
Located in Paris, FR
Nicolaus Ritter (1777-1797)
Selfportrait of the artist at the age of 16, 1793
Charcoal on paper
30 x 22.5 cm
In a moderne frame : 48.3 x 40.7 cm
The drawing is annotated on the reve...
Category
1790s Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Charcoal
French Erotic painter - Late 19th century figure drawings - Nudes - Ink on paper
Located in Varmo, IT
French painter (19th century) - Four erotic scenes.
17 x 24 cm without frames, 21.5 x 28.5 cm with frames.
Antique ink drawings on paper, in wood...
Category
Late 19th Century Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Ink
Antique French Miniature Portrait of Lady Biographical details with painting
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Miniature Portrait
French School, late 18th/ early 19th century
framed: 5.5 x 5.5 inches
board: 2 x 2 inches
provenance: private collection, France
condition: very good and sound c...
Category
Late 18th Century Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Watercolor
Memento mori - A study of a Skull
Located in Stoke, Hampshire
E. Rusch (late 19th century)
Memento mori - Study of a skull
Pencil drawing
Drawing Size - 11 x 18 in
Framed Size - 17 1/2 x 24 1/2 in
Memento mori is an artistic or symbolic trope acting as a reminder of the inevitability of death. The concept has its roots in the philosophers of classical antiquity and Christianity, and appeared in funerary art and architecture from the medieval period...
Category
19th Century Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Pencil
French School 18th Century, L'étonnement, form of expression, drawing
Located in Paris, FR
French School 18th Century,
L'étonnement, Astonishment as a form of expression,
Titled on the lower right "L'étonnement N°9"
Black chalk on paper
43 x 29 cm
In good condition, a sta...
Category
1750s Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Chalk
French School 18th Century, Le Rire, Laughter as a form of expression, drawing
Located in Paris, FR
French School 18th Century,
Le Rire, Laughter as a form of expression,
Titled on the lower right "Le rire N°12"
Black chalk on paper
43 x 29 cm
In quite good condition, stains vsibl...
Category
1750s Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Chalk
French School 18th Century, Le Mépris et la Haine, form of expression, drawing
Located in Paris, FR
French School 18th Century,
Le Mépris et la Haine, Contempt and Hate as a form of expression,
Titled on the lower right "Le mépris et la haine N°7"
Black chalk on paper
43 x 29 cm
I...
Category
1750s Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Chalk
Portrait of a Merchant
Located in London, GB
Giovanni Francesco Barbieri Guercino
Italian 1591-1666
Portrait of a Merchant
Sanguine on laid paper
Image size: 12 ¾ x 16 inches (32 x 40....
Category
17th Century Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Graphite
Memento mori - A study of a Skull in two positions
Located in Stoke, Hampshire
E. Rusch (late 19th century)
Memento mori - Study of a skull in two positions
Pencil drawing
Signed and dated lower right
Drawing Size - 13 x 18 in
Framed Size - 19 1/2 x 24 1/2 in
...
Category
19th Century Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Pencil
Portrait Miniature c1765 Letitia Preston Vallancey
Located in Holywell, GB
A fine sanguine chalk drawing on paper of Letitia aged about ten dating to around 1765. Unsigned, inscribed verso and presented in a 19th century mount and frame.
“When Letitia Pres...
Category
1760s Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Chalk
Study of a Franciscan Saint, probably San Diego de Alcalá
Located in New York, NY
Provenance: Ivan E. Phillips, Montreal and New York, until 2023.
The brothers Bartolomé Carducho and Vicente Carducho, both born and trained in Florence, settled in Spain where they made their careers. Vicente worked on numerous commissions for both the church and the Spanish court...
Category
17th Century Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Chalk, Ink, Pen
Head of a Youth
Located in New York, NY
Inscribed, lower right: Sirani
Provenance:
Private Collection, New York.
With Mia N. Weiner, Norfolk, Connecticut, 2008–2009; where acquired in 2009 by:
Linda Cheverton Wick and Walter Wick, 2009–2023.
Exhibited:
“By Her Hand: Artemisia Gentileschi and Women Artists in Italy, 1500–1800,” Wadsworth Atheneum, 30 September 2021 – 9 January 2022, and Detroit Institute of Arts, 6 February – 29 May 2022, no. 46.
Literature:
Neil Jeffares, Dictionary of Pastellists before 1800, Online Edition, updated 29 October 2021, wwwpastellistscom, “Sirani, Elisabetta,” cat. no. J.68.102.
Adelina Modesti, Elisabetta Sirani...
Category
16th Century Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Chalk, Pastel
Costume drawings for ‘Ambassadeur de Siam’ and ‘La Sultana Reine’
Located in Amsterdam, NL
Joseph-Marie Vien (1716-1809)
‘Ambassadeur de Siam’ and ‘La Sultana Reine’
Both titled lower centre, the drawing of the ambassador inscribed with colours intended for the prints, e...
Category
Mid-18th Century Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Pencil
Self Portrait
Located in London, GB
Pen and ink, ink wash and pencil on paper, signed and dated (lower right), 38cm x 29cm (65cm x 55cm framed).
This penetrating and wonderfully executed self-portrait, is all the mor...
Category
1910s Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Ink, Paper, Carbon Pencil
French school circa 1840, Portrait of a Lady, watercolor
Located in Paris, FR
French school circa 1840
Portrait of a Lady
watercolor on Bristol paper
25.5 x 20 cm oval
in quite good condition : slightly yellowed by time, multiple little scratches, stains (see ...
Category
1840s Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Watercolor
CHILD - Alfonso Grassi Pastel on paper Portrait italian Painting
Located in Napoli, IT
CHILD - Pastel on paper cm.51x41 signed lower right by Alfonso Grassi, Italy.
Wooden frame with passeportout cm.94x73
Category
Late 20th Century Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Pastel
Costume of an envoy of Venice, a drawing by Francesco Galimberti (1755 - 1803)
Located in PARIS, FR
We thank Mrs. Bożena Anna Kowalczyk who suggested the attribution to Francesco Galimberti based on a photograph of the artwork.
This engaging drawing, finely executed in black and red chalks, depicts a Venetian diplomat in his 'new clothes...
Category
1780s Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Chalk
Study of a Sleeping Girl in a Cap
By Jean-Baptiste Greuze
Located in Middletown, NY
Graphite on greenish gray wove paper. 15 1/4 x 11 5/8 inches (390 x 295 mm). Initialed "G. B." in pencil on the lower right recto. In generally good condition with some minor scattered surface soiling. Condition is consistent with age.
____
This drawing is closely related to two known mid 18th century oils...
Category
18th Century Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Handmade Paper, Graphite
Mercurio / Mercury
Located in Middletown, NY
A lovely, early drawing of the Roman god Mercury.
Pen and brown ink on cream laid paper, with a partial crown and shield watermark, 7 1/4 x 4 7/8 inches (184x 123 mm) (matrix). In go...
Category
Mid-18th Century Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Ink, Handmade Paper, Laid Paper
Study for Assumption of the Virgin
Located in Middletown, NY
Graphite on hand made, fibrous wove paper, finished with gray wash. Unevenly trimmed sheet edges, non-archival tape remnants at all four corners, recto, well outside of image area. Horseshoe-shaped area of light discoloration that extends significantly into the figure's face, beneath the lips, and up over the rear of the head, dog-eared right lower corner with associated light discoloration at crease. DeMin and Belluno inscribed in graphite, verso.
A detailed study showing 'primo pensiero' for Giovanni DeMin's large scale fresco, Assumption of the Virgin...
Category
Mid-19th Century Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Handmade Paper, Graphite
After Old Master Baldassarre Franceschini, Sleeping Cupid
Located in Harkstead, GB
A beautiful 19th century copy by Giuseppe Rocchi of Baldassarre Franceschini's Sleeping Cupid, presented in a very attractive gilt frame with hand carve...
Category
Mid-19th Century Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Watercolor
Jean-Henri Cless (1774-1812) Portrait of a young woman, signed drawing
Located in Paris, FR
Jean-Henri Cless (1774-1812)
Portrait of a young woman in a landscape
signed "Cless fec" for fecit on the lower left
Brown ink and brown ink wash on pencil
Size of the sheet : 31.5 x 22 cm
Size of the motive : 24.5 x 17 cm
very simply framed under glass without actual frame 32 x 22.5 cm
This pre...
Category
Early 1800s Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Ink, Pencil
English School early 19th century, Portrait of two children, drawing
Located in Paris, FR
English School early 19th century,
Portrait of two children,
Pencil and light heightenings of white and red gouache
29.5 x 23 cm
In quite good condition : the pape is yellowed by t...
Category
Early 1800s Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Pencil
The Assumption of Mary Magdalene, Italian School, 16th Century
Located in Middletown, NY
Brownish ink and grayish ink wash with white heightening on handmade cream laid paper, 10 5/8 x 8 1/4 inches (267 x 208 mm)(matrix). Scattered minor losses to top sheet edge (outside...
Category
16th Century Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Ink, Handmade Paper, Laid Paper
Ancient Persian Miniature - Original China Ink and Watercolour - 19th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Ancient Persian Miniature is an original China Ink and Watercolour realized by an artist of 19th Century.
Good condition for a little brown ...
Category
19th Century Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Ink, Watercolor
Portrait of a Lady, a drawing signed and dated by Augustin de Saint-Aubin
Located in PARIS, FR
This drawing full of freshness presents us with the profile of an elegant lady, drawn by Augustin de Saint-Aubin on a beautiful summer day in 1776, during the early months of Louis XVI's reign.
1. Augustin de Saint Aubin
Augustin de Saint-Aubin was born on January 3rd 1736 into a family of artists: his father Gabriel-Germain (1696-1756) was the King's embroiderer and his six surviving siblings (Charles-Germain (born in 1721), Gabriel-Jacques (1724), Catherine-Louise (1727), Louis-Michel (1731), Athanase (1734) and Agathe (1739)) were also artists. The eldest of the boys, Charles-Germain, became a draughtsman and embroiderer like his father, Gabriel-Jacques is considered one of the most brilliant draughtsmen of the 18th century, Louis-Michel became a painter at the Sèvres porcelain manufactory and Athanase an actor, while his two sisters were also talented draughtswomen.
During his lifetime Augustin de Saint-Aubin's fame as a draughtsman and engraver far out-shadowed that of his twelve-year-old elder brother Gabriel, but the Goncourt brothers initiated research into the French 18th century art...
Category
1770s Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Pastel, Pencil
CHILD - Alfonso Grassi Watercolor on paper Portrait italian Painting
Located in Napoli, IT
CHILD -Watercolorl on paper cm.51x41 signed lower left by Alfonso Grassi, Italy.
Wooden frame with passeportout cm.94x73
Category
Late 20th Century Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Watercolor
Head of a Female Saint
By Bernardino Lanino
Located in New York, NY
Provenance:
Duke Vittorio Amadeo I (d. 1637), Turin; by descent in the Library of the Dukes of Savoy
Antonio Abrate (1834–1925), Turin, after 1887; by descent to:
Adele Abrate Carl...
Category
16th Century Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Chalk
Member of the Military Band - Drawing - 19th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Member of the military band is a beautiful pencil drawing on cream-colored paper, realized during the XIX century by an Italian Master.
Hand-signed on the right side of the artwork....
Category
19th Century Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Pencil
Portraits of the Hon. Mary Shuttleworth and Anna Maria, 9th Baroness Forrester
Located in London, GB
THE HON. MARY SHUTTLEWORTH, NÉE COCKBURN (D. 1777)
and her sister
ANNA MARIA, 9TH BARONESS FORRESTER (D. 1808)
Pastel and gouache on paper laid on canvas, on their original backb...
Category
18th Century Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Pastel, Gouache
Eighteenth-century Irish portrait of the Rev. Henry Dabzac
By Hugh Douglas Hamilton
Located in London, GB
Pastel on paper, oval
9 x 7 ¼ inches; 230 x 185 mm
Inscribed on the verso:
‘The Revd Henry Dabzac D.D./ late Senior Fellow of/ Trinity College Dublin/ ever to be lamented by all that knew/ Him. Extensive learning, zeal, gently tempered/ by a spirit of charity & above all, a strong/ faith & a piety deservedly gained/ the character of a great and good man./ This exceptional man died 12th May 1790/ This picture was his give to Jane [Mary] Crofton, his sincerely [missing] sister.’
Collections:
Rev. Dr Henry Dabzac gift to his sister, Jane Crofton (d.1797);
Sir Hugh Crofton (1763-1834);
By descent to 1990;
Private collection, Dorset to 2020.
Literature:
Robert Staveley, Traces of Past and Present, Dublin, 1895, p.74;
Neil Jeffares, Dictionary of Pastellists Before 1800, online edition, no.J3751247
This characteristic pastel portrait by Hugh Douglas Hamilton was made early in his career; it depicts precisely the kind of education, well-connected Irish sitter who fuelled his success. The Reverend Henry Dabzac was from a distinguished Huguenot family, a celebrated academic historian, Dabzac received the Donegall lectureship in 1764 and from 1785 was Librarian and Senior Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin. According to his earliest biographer, Hamilton was the son of a peruke-maker based in Crow Street, Dublin. As Anne Hodge has pointed out, this places Hamilton’s father at the heart of the city: Crow street was a narrow thoroughfare formed part of the busy warren of streets bordered by the old Houses of Parliament and Trinity College at one end, and by Dublin Castle at the other. It is perhaps telling that in this early portrait, Hamilton shows Dabzac in a splendid powdered wig and his clerical bands. In 1754 Hamilton was apprenticed to James Mannin, a ‘pattern drawer’ who two years later was appointed master of the school of ornament at the Dublin Society’s drawing school, run by Robert West. Here Hamilton took the first prize in the 1755 competition, winning a premium of £1/16/. Hamilton developed a popular and profitable method of making pastel likenesses of sitters in a distinctive oval format. Hamilton developed a technique of using a sharpened pastel to hatch shaded areas of the features and, in the case of this portrait of Dabzac, the white powdered wig, which is drawn with particular care. In 1764 Hamilton moved to London where this small, oval pastels proved...
Category
18th Century Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Pastel
Moses Breaking the Tablet of the Law (after Parmigianino. 1503-1540)
By Daniel Ramée
Located in Storrs, CT
Moses Breaking the Tablet of the Law. (after Parmigianino. 1503-1540.) Pencil drawing mounted onto paper. 12 1/4 x 3 3/4 inches. Collector's seal verso: Gustav Grunwald, (Lugt 1155b)...
Category
19th Century Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Pencil
18th century pastel portrait of Lady Augusta Corbett and her son, Stuart
Located in London, GB
Collections:
Commissioned by Andrew Corbett, husband of the sitter;
The Venerable Stuart Corbett;
Sir Stuart Corbett;
By descent to 2002;
Sotheby’s, London 21 March 2002, lot.104;
Lowell Libson...
Category
18th Century Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Pastel, Gouache
Theatrical Costume - Pencil Drawing by Alfredo Edel - 1895
By Alfredo Edel
Located in Roma, IT
Theatrical Costume is an original pencil, pastel and watercolor drawing realized by Alfredo Edel in 1895.
Good condition, the artwork is with watercolor and biacca.
Hand signed with pencil by the artis.
Alfredo Leonardo Edel (1856–1912), sometimes credited as Alfredo Edel Colorno, was an Italian costume designer popular during the late 19th and early 20th century. He worked at the La Scala opera...
Category
1890s Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Pastel, Watercolor, Pencil
Theatrical Costume - Watercolor by Alfredo Edel - 1895
By Alfredo Edel
Located in Roma, IT
Theatrical Costume is an original pencil, pastel and watercolor realized by Alfredo Edel in 1895.
Good condition, the artwork is from Amleto and represents Ofelia, with a note writes from the artist on the lower margin.
Hand signed with pencil by the artist.
Alfredo Leonardo Edel (1856–1912), sometimes credited as Alfredo Edel Colorno, was an Italian costume designer popular during the late 19th and early 20th century. He worked at the La Scala opera...
Category
1890s Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Watercolor, Pastel, Pencil
Portrait drawing of Harriot Mellon, Mrs Thomas Coutts
By Henry Fuseli
Located in London, GB
Inscribed by the artist in pen and brown ink, upper margin: 'σοφὴν δὲ μισῶ: μὴ γὰρ ἔν γ' ἐμοῖς δόμοις / εἴη φρονοῦσα πλείον' ἢ γυναῖκα χρή [Euripides, Hippolytus, 11, 640-41: “But a ...
Category
19th Century Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Pencil
Regency portrait drawing of Lady Nugent
By John Downman
Located in London, GB
Collections:
With Ellis Smith, London;
Private collection, to 2015.
Literature:
G.C. Williamson, John Downman A.R.A., his Life and Works,
p. lviii no's. 2 and 3, p. xxxi.
Exhi...
Category
19th Century Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Pencil, Watercolor
18th century portrait drawing of the Rev. William Atkinson
Located in London, GB
Collections:
Henry Scipio Reitlinger (1882-1950);
Private collection, UK to 2019
Framed dimensions: 14.50 x 15.38 inches
This drawing is one of only two known portrait drawings by Romney (as opposed to preliminary studies for portraits) and is dated by Alex Kidson as being executed no later than 1769. It is likely that the present drawing was originally part of a sketchbook, now largely dismembered (Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Kendal), which Kidson notes, contained some of Romney’s most beautiful early drawings. This drawing, and a second sheet formerly with Andrew Wyld, have been identifying as depicting the Rev. William Atkinson...
Category
18th Century Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Pencil
Regency portrait drawing of Arabella Graham-Clarke
By John Downman
Located in London, GB
Collections:
The sitter, and by descent;
Christie's, 19th March 1928, lot 6;
Private collection to 2019
Literature:
G.C. Williamson, John Downman, A.R.A., his Life and Works, Lon...
Category
Early 19th Century Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Watercolor, Pencil
Grimace - China Ink and Watercolor Drawing - 18th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Grimace is a beautiful brown and black China ink drawing and watercolor on wire rod paper, made by an anonymous artist of the late 18th century.
A precious old master's original dra...
Category
18th Century Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Watercolor, Ink
Costume of Napoli - Ink and Watercolor by Michela De Vito - 1830s
Located in Roma, IT
Costume of Napoli is an original Ink and Watercolour drawing on ivory-colored stuck on paper, 1830 c.a.
Signed. Image Dimensions: 24.5 x 15 cm.
The original title is written at the...
Category
1830s Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Watercolor, Ink
18th century portrait of the Royal Academy model George White
By John Russell
Located in London, GB
Collections:
Russell sale, Christie’s, 14 February, 1807: ‘John Russell, Esq., R.A. deceased, crayon painter to His Majesty, the Prince of Wales, and Duke of York; and brought from his late Dwelling in Newman Street’, lot 92, ‘St Peter’, bt. Thompson (£1.13s);
Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, London, 25th September 1980, lot 113;
Private collection, UK, 2016.
Literature:
Martin Postle, 'Patriarchs, prophets and paviours: Reynolds's images of old age', The Burlington Magazine, vol. cxxx, no. 1027, October 1988, pp. 739-40, fig. 9;
Martin Postle, Sir Joshua Reynolds: The Subject Pictures, Cambridge, 1995, p.136, repr.;
Neil Jeffares, Dictionary of pastellists before 1800, online edition, J.64.2928.
Signed and dated: J Russell/ fecit 1772 (lower right)
Framed dimensions: 25 x 31 inches
John Russell was admitted to the Royal Academy in March 1770, at the same time as Daniel Gardner. The nascent Academy Schools were still establishing their teaching structures, but central to the syllabus were the twin components of drawing after the antique and from life models. By 1772 Russell had already been awarded a silver medal and progressed to the life academy, where he produced this remarkable pastel study of George White. White was the most famous model employed by the Royal Academy and prominent artists in the second half of the eighteenth century. A paviour – or street mender –by profession White had been discovered by Joshua Reynolds, who in turn introduced him to the Academy. Russell’s striking head study demonstrates his abilities as a portraitist and pastellist, at the same time showing his interest in the Academy’s preoccupation with promoting history painting.
George White was one of the most celebrated models in eighteenth-century London. According to the painter Joseph Moser:
'Old George…owed the ease in which he passed his latter days, in a great measure to Sir Joshua Reynolds, who found him exerting himself in the laborious employment of thumping down stones in the street; and observing not only the grand and majestic traits of his countenance, but the dignity of his muscular figure, took him out of a situation to which his strength was by no means equal, clothed, fed, and had him, first as a model in his own painting room, then introduced him as a subject for the students of the Royal Academy.'
As Martin Postle has pointed out, whilst characterful studies of old men posed as biblical figures, prophets or saints by Continental old masters were readily available on the art market – Reynolds himself had copied a head of Joab by Federico Bencovich in the collection of his friend and patron, Lord Palmerston - finding a model in Britain from whom to execute a painting was more difficult.
White therefore offered a rare opportunity for artists to combine portraiture and history painting, by painting a model in the guise of an historical or literary character. In 1771 Reynolds showed at the Royal Academy a picture of White entitled Resignation. It was engraved in 1772 and accompanied by a stanza from Oliver Goldsmith’s Deserted Village, implying a literary context to what is essentially a portrait. In his annotated Royal Academy catalogue, Horace Walpole noted: ‘This was an old beggar, who had so fine a head that Sir Joshua chose him for the father in his picture from Dante, and painted him several times, as did others in imitation of Reynolds. There were even cameos and busts of him.’ White sat to, amongst others Johan Zoffany, John Sanders, Nathaniel Hone and the sculptor John Bacon...
Category
18th Century Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Pastel
18th century ink study for the Leveson-Gower Children
Located in London, GB
Collections: J. Goodfriend, USA.
Brown wash and pencil on laid paper
Framed dimensions: 13.25 x 11.75 inches
This powerful drawing was made at the time that Romney was painting the famous group portrait of the Gower Children now in Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Kendal. Romney was a bold and incisive draughtsman who made numerous rich brown ink studies, principally for historical compositions; by contrast, comparatively few studies linked directly to his portraits survive. The existence of a group of studies for the Gower Children underscores its importance to Romney. The sitters were the five youngest of the eight children of Granville, 2nd Earl Gower who, at the time the portrait was commissioned, was President of the Council in Lord North’s government and one of the best-connected and most influential people in England. The present drawing which is a large scale treatment of the composition in its final form perfectly distils Romney’s conceit: the younger children dancing whilst their elder sister, in the guise of a Bacchante plays the tambourine. The bold and dramatic study underlines both the artistic confidence and classical grandeur Romney gained during his trip to Italy between 1773 and 1775.
The commission from Granville, 2nd Earl Gower to paint five of his children came shortly after Romney’s Continental tour. The initial idea, as represented by the present drawing, seems to have been to paint Lady Anne, the figure on the right of the composition playing the tambourine, who was the youngest of Gower’s first four children by his second wife Lady Louisa Egerton and who married the Rev. Edward Vernon Harcourt, later Archbishop of York, with three of her younger half-siblings by Gower’s third wife, Lady Susanna Stewart: at the left Lady Georgina, who became Countess of St Germans following her marriage to the Hon. William Eliot; at the right Lady Charlotte Sophia, later Duchess of Beaufort and in the centre Lady Susanna, later Countess of Harrowby. Romney added a fifth child to the finished portrait, Gower’s son: Lord Granville, later created Viscount Granville and Earl Granville. In Italy Romney had produced a large number of studies of classical antiquities and old master paintings.
The commission from Gower offered Romney the opportunity to explore a complex multi-figural group, putting into practice the kind of ambitious classical quotations that Reynolds was currently exploiting. In 1773 Reynolds had completed the remarkable group portrait of the Montgomery Sisters, now in the Tate Gallery, London, which showed them adorning a herm of the Roman god Hymen; the composition used a garland to link the three figures who were shown in classical costume dancing at the foot of a Roman sculpture. Scholars have long pointed to a similar sources for the two compositions: the works of Nicolas Poussin. Whilst the Montgomery Sisters is based, in part, on a Bacchanal now in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, the Gower Children has always been associated with Poussin’s Dance to the Music of Time, now in the Wallace Collection, London. It seems more likely that Romney was looking to an antique source in the form of the Borghese Dancers, a Roman relief, then in Palazzo Borghese in Rome. Romney would have seen the relief of interlocking, dancing maidens and would also have known Guido Reni’s Aurora...
Category
18th Century Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Ink, Pencil
Boissier, Portrait of a Young Man, 1802, Pastel signed and dated
By Boissier
Located in Paris, FR
Boissier (painter and portraitist active at the end of the 18th century)
Portrait of a young man
Signed and dated "Boissier f(ecit) 1802" on the lower right
Pastel on paper transfere...
Category
Early 1800s Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Pastel
Carretto Siciliano (Sicilian Carriage) - Watercolor by M. De Vito - 1820 ca.
Located in Roma, IT
Watercolour on ivory colored and watermarked paper"J. Whatm Turkey M.", 1820 c.a.
Beautiful watercolour representing a typical Italian scene of ordinary life in XIX century: people...
Category
1820s Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Watercolor
Portrait of a Gentleman
Located in New York, NY
Pen, black ink, wash, and white heightening on blue paper
Provenance:
with F. R. Meatyard, London, around 1925; where acquired by:
Dan Fellows Platt, Englewood, New Jersey; by descent to his wife:
Ethel Bliss Platt; by whom given to:
The Princeton University Art Museum; by whom consigned to:
Schaeffer Galleries, New York, 1944; where acquired by:
Wilhelm Suida; thence by descent to:
Robert L. and Bertina Suida Manning, New York, 1959-1996
Private Collection, USA
Literature:
Janos Scholz, “Italian Drawings in The Art Museum, Princeton University,” The Burlington Magazine, vol. 109, no. 770 (May 1967), pp. 296, 299.
Elaine Claye, “A Group of Portrait Drawings by Jacopo Amigoni...
Category
18th Century Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Ink, Pen
Costume di Fraine - ìWatercolor by M. De Vito - 1820 ca.
Located in Roma, IT
Watercolor on ivory colored paper, 1820 c.a.
Hand-titled "Costume di Fraine" with a caption "Provincia d'Abruzzo nel Regno di Napoli" in black ink on lower margin at the center. Han...
Category
1820s Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Watercolor
Opera dei Pupi
Located in Roma, IT
Watercolour on ivory colored paper stuck onwhite cardboard sheet, 1820 c.a. Representing people attending the typical Sicilian"Operadei Pupi". Excellent conditionsexcept a little sta...
Category
1820s Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Watercolor
Costume di Procida - Watercolor by M. De Vito - 1820 ca.
Located in Roma, IT
Watercolour on paper stuck on ivory colored cardboard, 1820 c.a.
Hand-titled "Costume di Procida" with a caption "Provincia di Napoli" in black ink on lower margin. Partially hand-signed on lower-right margin. Representing a woman with baby...
Category
1820s Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Watercolor
Marinajo del Molo- Watercolor by M. De Vito - 1820 ca.
Located in Roma, IT
Watercolour on paper, 1820 c.a.
Hand-titled "Marinajo del Molo" (Sailor of the pier), hand-signed on lower-left margin. Very good conditions. Including an ivory colored cardboard p...
Category
1820s Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Watercolor
Venditori e Mangiatori di Maccheroni - Watercolor by M. De Vito - 1820 ca.
Located in Roma, IT
Watercolour on paper stuck on grey cardboard, 1820 c.a.
Wonderful watercolour both for the drawing and for the fineness of the colours representing a typical Italian scene of ordina...
Category
1820s Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Watercolor
Costume di Ciociara - Watercolor by M. De Vito - 1820 ca.
Located in Roma, IT
Watercolour on ivory colored paper, 1820 c.a. Hand-signed on lower-right. Hand-titled "Costume di Ciociara", with autograph caption black ink "Provincia di Basilicata nel Regno di Na...
Category
1820s Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Watercolor
Zampognari che fanno la Novena di Natale - Watercolor by M. De Vito - 1820 ca.
Located in Roma, IT
Watercolour on paper, 1820 c.a.
Hand-titled "Zampognari che fanno la Novena di Natale" (Bagpipers Playing During Christmas Time), hand-signed on lower-right margin. Very good condi...
Category
1820s Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Watercolor
Ballo de' Zampognari - Watercolor by M. De Vito - 1820 ca.
Located in Roma, IT
Watercolour on paper, 1820 c.a.
Hand-titled "Ballo de' Zampognari" (Dance of Pipers), hand-signed on lower-left margin. Very good conditions except for some ripples on the lower ma...
Category
1820s Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Watercolor
Costume di Villa Pianezza - Watercolor by M. De Vito - 1820 ca.
Located in Roma, IT
Watercolour on ivory colored paper, 1820 c.a.
Hand-titled "Costume di Villa pianezza" with a caption "Provincia dell'Aquila nel Regno di Napoli" in black ink on lower margin at the ...
Category
1820s Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Watercolor
Costume di Capracolla - Watercolor by M. De Vito - 1820 ca.
Located in Roma, IT
Beautiful watercolor on ivory-colored paper called Costume di Capracolla, realized by the Italian artist Michela De Vito in 1820 ca.
Hand-titled "Costume di Capracolla" with a hand-...
Category
1820s Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Watercolor
Costume di Craco - Watercolor by M. De Vito - 1820 ca.
Located in Roma, IT
Watercolor on ivory colored paper, 1820 c.a.
Hand-titled "Costume di Craco" with a caption "Provincia di Basilicata nel Regno di Napoli" in black ink on lower margin at the center. ...
Category
1820s Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Watercolor
Brigante - Watercolor 1820 ca.
Located in Roma, IT
Watercolour on ivory colored paper, 1820 c.a.. Hand titled and signed. Representing brigand. Very good conditions.
Very beautiful and good quality watercolour both for the drawing a...
Category
1820s Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Watercolor
Old Masters portrait drawings and watercolours for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Old Masters portrait drawings and watercolours available for sale on 1stDibs. Works in this style were very popular during the 20th Century, but contemporary artists have continued to produce works inspired by this movement. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Michela De Vito, John Downman, Alfredo Edel, and Daniel Gardner. Frequently made by artists working with Paint, and Watercolour and other materials, all of these pieces for sale are unique and have attracted attention over the years. Not every interior allows for large Old Masters portrait drawings and watercolours, so small editions measuring 2 inches across are also available. Prices for portrait drawings and watercolours made by famous or emerging artists can differ depending on medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at £54 and tops out at £64,990, while the average work sells for £889.
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