Unknown

Dutch School Portrait of a Lady

Circa 1820

A masterful example of Italian Mannerist painting, this exceptional panel was composed by the renowned Florentine painter Domenico Puligo. Alongside Jacopo Pontormo and Rosso Fiorentino, Puligo is remembered as one of the foremost figures of the Mannerist movement that rose to prominence during the 16th century in Florence. This panel of the Virgin Mary with the Christ child and Saint John the Baptist is a characteristic example of his celebrated devotional images, which grace museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), Museo del Prado (Madrid), Palazzo Borghese (Rome), and Palazzo Pitti (Florence), among many others. Puligo’s skill with color is fully demonstrated in the beautifully preserved work. Considering its age, the vibrancy and the sheer range of color is remarkable. The Virgin Mary’s crimson dress...

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...

French Academic painter Guillaume Seignac was renowned for his masterful treatment of the idealized nude. His languishing female subjects based on Greco-Roman prototypes were and rem...

Portrait of a Levantine Merchant, 18th Century Italian school. Oil on canvas. Circle of Giuseppe Nogari (1699-1763) Dimensions with frame cm 71 x 5...

Philosopher - Ciro De Rosa Italia 2008 - Oil on canvas cm. 26x26 Gold leaf gilded wooden frame available on requestThe evocative portrait of Ciro De Rosa portrays an elderly man with...

A 17th century English portrait of a lady by Sir Peter Lely (1618-1680), half-length in a painted feigned oval, wearing a green silk gown with chestnut coloured cloak over one shoulder, her fair hair curled in the fashionable ringlet style of the period. Oil on canvas in an English giltwood 'Lely' frame. We are grateful to Diana Dethloff and Catharine MacLeod (who are currently working on a Lely catalogue raisonné) for their confirmation of Lely as the artist from photograph analysis of this previously unidentified early work. Provenance: Private collection Nottingham until 2021 Mellors and Kirk sale December 2000, lot 1173 The sitter is likely to have been from an upper class or aristocratic family in court circles, who were the main source of Lely`s patronage. The simple composition serves to highlight the beauty of the sitter through portraying her pale decolletage and complexion, set against the gentle gaze of her blue eyes, the soft blush of her cheeks and her full red lips. Peter Lely (1618-1680) was originally of dutch origin and became Principle Painter to the King in 1661, following in the footsteps of Van Dyck who had died in 1641. He dominated the portrait painting scene in England for over 20 years, creating a distinctive 'court look' in his work which had a strong influence on many other artists. He had an extremely successful and popular portrait practice which meant that he soon had to develop production methods that could accommodate the high demand for portraits, and also for copies and versions of them which were given as gifts to family and courtiers. The use of studio assistants was a common practice for busy artists and as with Van Dyck, Lely is known to have used specialist assistants to execute particular parts of his paintings. Artists who worked in Lely`s studio included John Baptist Gaspars who specialised in drapery painting, William Wissing, John Greenhill...

Portrait of a 17th century lady, three-quarter length, in an ivory silk gown standing on a garden terrace. The lady, painted circa 1670, gestures with her hand towards the gardens and land beyond off her country estate, wearing a sumptuous ivory silk gown adorned with pearls and precious stones and pearl earrings and necklace, signaling her wealth and status. She wears a ring on her left hand, which combined with her pale gown possibly alludes to her recent marriage. There are traces of a signature in ligature 'JG' in a lower fold of the sitter's right hand sleeve. John Greenhill...