An independent scholar is seeking advice on the practice of the drapery painters Joseph (c.1699-1749) and Alexander (1701-1757) Van Aken/Vanhaecken: From roughly 1725 to 1760 a large majority of British portraits’ clothing & landscapes were supposedly painted by the workshop of Joseph Van Haecken (d. 1749) and his brother Alexander. The link between him and […]
Leeanne Westwood, Curator at Valence House Museum, is researching artist attributions for a recent donation of nine Fanshawe family miniatures, and one loan to the collection. The ten paintings are shown below along with what information as to sitter identity and dating is currently known. To share your thoughts on possible artists, please use the […]
This portrait of an unnamed actor of the Covent Garden Theatre Company is dated 1811 and attributed to Henry William Pickersgill R.A. The inscription on the old labelon reverse of the present portrait refers to an actor of the Covent Garden Theatre Co.¹ The sitter is presumably one of the company of Regency actors under […]
A member is looking for information on an eighteenth-century portraitist called Clifford (forenames unknown), who executed the adjoining painting. “Clifford appears to have been a travelling portrait painter who spent some time in Cornwall and resided for a while in Truro. This portrait (top left, and bottom) shows Francis Jenkins of Truro (1756- 1839). He […]
A member is seeking the identity of this female portrait sitter by Thomas Phillips RA (1770-1845). She was formerly identified as ‘Lady Blessington’, but this is unverified. The costume has helped to date the painting to the early 1830s. Medium: oil on canvas Dimensions: 76.9 by 62.2 cm.; 30 1/4 by 24 1/2 in. Known […]
A network member is seeking assistance in identifying the sitters in this group portrait or the subject matter, and ideas as to artist. “I am researching a portrait which was originally thought to represent Samuel Foote with David Garrick and his wife Eva Maria Veigel, but this identification has now been disproved. There is evidence […]
A query from a private collector, a member of the Understanding British Portraits professional network: This portrait of a young man wearing the Order of the Garter and another medallion showing a bronze portrait relief suspended from a blue ribbon has always been known anecdotally as a portrait of ‘Major Blachford’. However Blachford was not […]
The Grosvenor Museum has recently acquired three late 18th/early 19th century portraits of members of the Bayley family of Nantwich, Cheshire. They have just gone on display, following conservation. The sitters are reasonably well documented but the artists are unknown
A query from Valence House Museum: This portrait is described as Mrs Mary Linsdell (b.1805) and her daughter Annie (b.1841) and was donated in 1942 by Annie’s son-in-law. Annie was the fifth child and third daughter of Mary and her husband Thomas. The portrait is by John Robert Wildman – portrait, landscape, historical and animal […]
Art Detective aims to improve knowledge of the UK’s public art collection. It is a free-to-use online network that connects public art collections with members of the public and providers of specialist knowledge. Launched in March 2014, Art Detective comprises a digital network built on top of the Public Catalogue Foundation’s (PCF) existing art object […]
