Joseph Joachim Guernier

Emperor Napoléon I in Coronation Robes

1812

Albert Ludwig Operti 1852-1927 Italian-American Portrait of Dr. Frederick Albert Cook Oil on canvas This highly rare portrait of the important Polar explorer, Dr. Frederick Albert Cook, is the work of American artist Albert Ludwig Operti. Renowned in the late 19th and early 20th centuries for his paintings of exploration, namely Arctic scenes, Operti was the only artist to accompany Robert Peary...

Sir Joshua Reynolds 1723-1792 British Sir Henry Bowles Howard, 12th Earl of Suffolk and 5th Earl of Berkshire Oil on canvas Sir Joshua Reynolds is unequivocally considered the most important English portraitist of the 18th century who was instrumental in adapting the Grand Manner style in the portrait genre. In fact, when the Royal Academy was founded in 1768, Reynolds was elected its first President, setting the precedent of quality for which all other portraitists would strive. Reynolds's portrait of Henry Bowles Howard, 12th Earl of Suffolk, showcases his genius in the genre and mastery over the medium. Reynolds’s portrait of the Earl expertly invokes classical values with strong lighting, rich colors and expert attention to detail to help underscore the prominence and revered echelon of the sitter. Howard was an esteemed British politician and Knight of the Garter. He served as Secretary of State for the Northern Department from 1771 to 1779, and he played a key role in utilizing mercenaries during the American Revolution and safeguarding Sweden's independence. The portrait employs Reynolds's signature style to render Howard rightfully as a gentleman of distinction. Captured seated in a stately library, the Earl appears learned and austere as he places one hand upon a stack of important documents and looks wistfully into the distance. Reynolds makes these compositional choices decisively, as the seated position gives Howard a weighty appearance of importance and the semi-profile turn captures his countenance at an attractive angle that highlights his strong, masculine features. The work draws on the classical conventions of Greek and Roman art and the Italian Renaissance masters, anchoring the nobleman in a history of refinement. Everything from his strong yet welcoming expression to his pale face enlivened by a rush of blood to the cheeks presents the picture of a strong, vital and powerful leader. As the first president of the Royal Academy in London, Reynolds’s commissions raised the status of an artist in Britain during the Romantic period and also established the portrait as an esteemed high art genre that garnered equal import to the history paintings that reigned supreme in decades prior. Today, Reynolds’s works grace the walls of the most important museums in the world, including the Louvre, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the National Gallery in London, among others. Circa 1770 Canvas: 50 1/2" high x 40 1/4" wide Framed: 61" high x 52 1/2" wide x 3 1/2" deep Provenance: Sir Henry Howard, 12th Earl of Suffolk and 5th Earl of Berkshire, 1739-1779 His mother, Lady Mary Howard, née Finch, Lady Andover, d. 1803 Acquired by descent to her daughter, Frances, and her husband Richard Bagot (later Howard) Acquired by descent to their daughter, Mary (1784-1877), and her husband Col. Fulke Greville Upton (later Howard), d. 1846 Acquired by descent to Lieutenant Colonel H.R.G. Howard Sale, Christie's, London, March 24, 1961, no. 29 Julius Weitzner, London and New York Sale, Paris, Musée Galliéra, December 7, 1965, no. 165 Newhouse Galleries, New York, NY Mr. and Mrs. F. Howard Walsh, Fort Worth, Texas, 1966 Walsh Family Art Trust Private collection, Oregon M.S. Rau, New Orleans Exhibited: British Institution, London, 1844, no. 130, loaned by the Hon. Fulke Greville Howard. South Kensington, "Second special exhibition of National Portraits," 1867, no. 478, lent by the Hon. Mrs. Greville. Agnew's, London, 1903, no. 17. Literature: Algernon Graves and W. V. Cronin, A History of the Works of Sir Joshua Reynolds, P.R.A., vol. 3 (London, 1899), p. 945. David Mannings...

William-Adolphe Bouguereau 1825-1905 French La fille du pêcheur (The Fisherman’s Daughter) Signed and dated “W-Bouguereau-1882” (middle right) Oil on canvas William Bouguereau's...

The greatest triumph of the artist’s career, this extraordinary and monumental oil on canvas by Gustave-Max Stevens perfectly represents the highly detailed compositions and richly h...

"Profile in Yellow" Figurative Oil Painting 16" x 26" inch by Ashraf Zamzami ABOUT Ashraf El Zamzami was a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Minya, and he fast made a name fo...

"UNTITLED" OIL AND ACRILIC ON CANVAS SIGNED 35.5 X 27.5 INCHES Sofía Ruiz was born in 1982. What she expresses through her paintings has to do with whe...

KAMIL LISEK (born in 1980) Studied under the guidance of prof. Maciej Świeszewski at the faculty of painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdansk. He graduated with distinction obta...

PORTRAIT OF A TROUBLED SOUL Size: 65.5 x 54 cm (including frame) Oil on Canvas This mid-century expressive and emotive oil portrait delves into the depths of the human psyche with a...