George III
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : 18th century painting Music in old painting Turner Horse Sport in art Origins of sports Ancient Germany Tribal Oceania
Chronology : 1760-1769 1770-1779 1776 1800-1809 1810-1819
See also : 18th century painting Music in old painting Turner Horse Sport in art Origins of sports Ancient Germany Tribal Oceania
Chronology : 1760-1769 1770-1779 1776 1800-1809 1810-1819
1762 Garrick's Villa by Zoffany
2011 SOLD for £ 6.8M by Sotheby's
Two centuries after Shakespeare, one century after Molière, the dominant figure of the theater was David Garrick. That illustrious actor was also known to manage his own career, and reached in his time a considerable fame and high social rank. He was however not knighted.
In 1754, Garrick bought a luxurious villa on the banks of the Thames in Hampton. He had built by Robert Adam a temple to Shakespeare in neo-Greek style. This building is now a museum dedicated to Garrick.
At that time in England, the fashion in painting is the conversation piece. Influenced by the Dutch genre scenes, this style shows the sponsor of the painting surrounded by family and friends. The faces are clearly identifiable, and attitudes are active and friendly.
Garrick was introduced to all the great English painters of his time. Yet in 1762, he entrusted to a young German artist recently arrived in England the task of executing a pair of conversation pieces in Hampton. After this first success, Johann Zoffany became the best painter in this theme.
This pair of oils on canvas, 100 x 125 cm each, was sold for £ 6.8M by Sotheby's on December 7, 2011.
One of them, showing the afternoon tea on the lawn along the river, is illustrated in the press release shared by AuctionPublicity. The other, showing Mr. and Mrs. Garrick in front of Shakespeare temple, is shared by Wikimedia.
In 1754, Garrick bought a luxurious villa on the banks of the Thames in Hampton. He had built by Robert Adam a temple to Shakespeare in neo-Greek style. This building is now a museum dedicated to Garrick.
At that time in England, the fashion in painting is the conversation piece. Influenced by the Dutch genre scenes, this style shows the sponsor of the painting surrounded by family and friends. The faces are clearly identifiable, and attitudes are active and friendly.
Garrick was introduced to all the great English painters of his time. Yet in 1762, he entrusted to a young German artist recently arrived in England the task of executing a pair of conversation pieces in Hampton. After this first success, Johann Zoffany became the best painter in this theme.
This pair of oils on canvas, 100 x 125 cm each, was sold for £ 6.8M by Sotheby's on December 7, 2011.
One of them, showing the afternoon tea on the lawn along the river, is illustrated in the press release shared by AuctionPublicity. The other, showing Mr. and Mrs. Garrick in front of Shakespeare temple, is shared by Wikimedia.
STUBBS
1
1765 Gimcrack
2011 SOLD for £ 22.4M by Christie's
Serving wealthy English aristocrats, George Stubbs specialized in the topic of race horses. On December 8, 2010, Sotheby's sold £ 10.1M a very elegant study of mares and foals in a meadow, painted in 1767.
A horse named Gimcrack was winning most of the races where he was engaged. His portrait was sold for £ 22.4M by Christie's on July 5, 2011.
Made around 1765, this broad composition, oil on canvas 102 x 196 cm, simple and effective, is divided into two parts. On the left, Gimcrack shows his beautiful profile, surrounded by a coach, a stable boy and a jockey.
A race is held on the horizon, on the right. A horse is far ahead of his three followers. He is also Gimcrack, of course. He is therefore shown twice on that image that had everything to flatter the sponsor of the work, Lord Bolingbroke, owner of the champion.
Stubbs is very accurate in anatomical detail, but still shows horses galloping with their four legs flying above the ground. This feature, which can be excused one century before the studies of Muybridge, applies here only in the background and provides this work with an undeniable poetic dimension.
A horse named Gimcrack was winning most of the races where he was engaged. His portrait was sold for £ 22.4M by Christie's on July 5, 2011.
Made around 1765, this broad composition, oil on canvas 102 x 196 cm, simple and effective, is divided into two parts. On the left, Gimcrack shows his beautiful profile, surrounded by a coach, a stable boy and a jockey.
A race is held on the horizon, on the right. A horse is far ahead of his three followers. He is also Gimcrack, of course. He is therefore shown twice on that image that had everything to flatter the sponsor of the work, Lord Bolingbroke, owner of the champion.
Stubbs is very accurate in anatomical detail, but still shows horses galloping with their four legs flying above the ground. This feature, which can be excused one century before the studies of Muybridge, applies here only in the background and provides this work with an undeniable poetic dimension.
#GeorgeStubbs was born #OTD in 1724. We sold Gimcrack on Newmarket Heath in 2011 for £22,441,250 #WorldAuctionRecord #artistbirthday pic.twitter.com/B7fCB2eivD
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) August 25, 2017
2
1768 Mares and Foals in a Landscape
2010 SOLD for £ 10.1M by Sotheby's
A contemporary to Gainsborough, George Stubbs painted race horses in pastoral landscapes, starting from a commission ca 1762 for Lord Bolingbroke. This theme evoking breeding and sport altogether was much appealing to the British Lords from the Whig circle who were operating the Jockey Club since 1750.
An oil on canvas 100 x 187 cm painted in 1768 was kept by the same family of Lords since the origin and had been shown to the public in 2004 in the exhibition Stubbs and the Horse at the National Gallery.
The animals in a group of two mares and three foals are elegant and finely detailed. Nevertheless the conversation is artificial between the leading light grey Arabian mare and a slender legged standing colt, with a torsion of the elongated neck of the young. They are displayed free without enclosure or saddle or human helper.
In flawless condition, it was sold for £ 10.1M by Sotheby's on December 8, 2010, lot 45.
An example repeating the same group in the same positions and attitudes was executed by Stubbs ca 1769. This monumental oil on canvas 185 x 274 cm has a larger scale than the 1767 example. The composition is better balanced with a less extended landscape. Its first owner has probably been the then prime minister Lord Grafton. It passed at Christie's on July 2, 2024, lot 21.
An oil on canvas 100 x 187 cm painted in 1768 was kept by the same family of Lords since the origin and had been shown to the public in 2004 in the exhibition Stubbs and the Horse at the National Gallery.
The animals in a group of two mares and three foals are elegant and finely detailed. Nevertheless the conversation is artificial between the leading light grey Arabian mare and a slender legged standing colt, with a torsion of the elongated neck of the young. They are displayed free without enclosure or saddle or human helper.
In flawless condition, it was sold for £ 10.1M by Sotheby's on December 8, 2010, lot 45.
An example repeating the same group in the same positions and attitudes was executed by Stubbs ca 1769. This monumental oil on canvas 185 x 274 cm has a larger scale than the 1767 example. The composition is better balanced with a less extended landscape. Its first owner has probably been the then prime minister Lord Grafton. It passed at Christie's on July 2, 2024, lot 21.
3
1776 Tygers at Play
2014 SOLD for £ 7.7M by Sotheby's
Famous for his paintings of horses with or without riders, George Stubbs was primarily an anatomist in the great period of curiosity of the mid-eighteenth century. He published in 1766 The Anatomy of the Horse, illustrated with drawings.
Images of horses were welcomed by the English aristocracy. Stubbs was a gifted painter. He was the only artist capable of applying the theme of the animal as a specialty of major art.
In London, menageries are in the trend. Visitors dream of the distant lands from where the wild beasts have come. As early as 1762 Stubbs painted a lion attacking a horse. Lions and those other big cats designated at that time under the generic term of tygers soon occupy the top place in his art.
Tygers at play, oil on canvas 102 x 127 cm, was sold for £ 7.7M from a lower estimate of £ 4M by Sotheby's on July 9, 2014. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Two leopard kittens play with great vivacity in an imaginary exotic landscape certainly inspired by the passion of the contemporaries for Cook's discoveries. These friendly animals respond positively to the postulate of Rousseau on natural goodness at birth.
This undated painting was exhibited for the first time in 1776. Carefully preserved with discretion for almost two centuries by a British aristocratic family, it remains in a very exciting condition.
Images of horses were welcomed by the English aristocracy. Stubbs was a gifted painter. He was the only artist capable of applying the theme of the animal as a specialty of major art.
In London, menageries are in the trend. Visitors dream of the distant lands from where the wild beasts have come. As early as 1762 Stubbs painted a lion attacking a horse. Lions and those other big cats designated at that time under the generic term of tygers soon occupy the top place in his art.
Tygers at play, oil on canvas 102 x 127 cm, was sold for £ 7.7M from a lower estimate of £ 4M by Sotheby's on July 9, 2014. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Two leopard kittens play with great vivacity in an imaginary exotic landscape certainly inspired by the passion of the contemporaries for Cook's discoveries. These friendly animals respond positively to the postulate of Rousseau on natural goodness at birth.
This undated painting was exhibited for the first time in 1776. Carefully preserved with discretion for almost two centuries by a British aristocratic family, it remains in a very exciting condition.
1769 An Academy by Lamplight by Wright of Derby
2017 SOLD for £ 7.3M by Sotheby's
The Midlands are at the heart of the very first industrial revolution. The progress minded meet in Birmingham around Erasmus Darwin, the energetic and flamboyant animator of the Lunar Circle. Technical inventions and scientific discoveries are numerous and basic.
Joseph Wright is known with his pseudonym Wright of Derby. He lives in that town of the East Midlands but knows Darwin very well. This young artist enthusiastic of the new Enlightenment paints scenes of scientific experiments in a chiaroscuro style.
At the same time English artists gather in more or less formal clubs to better sell their art through exhibitions. Wright of Derby is a member of the Society of Artists of Great Britain. Keen to preserve his freedom of style and theme, he refuses to join the secessionists who create the Royal Academy of Arts in 1768.
An Academy by Lamplight, oil on canvas 127 x 102 cm painted in 1769 by Wright of Derby, was sold for £ 7.3M from a lower estimate of £ 2.5M by Sotheby's on December 6, 2017, lot 11.
A group of boys is busy drawing the image of an antique marble placed above them on a piece of furniture or a pedestal. Depending on their age they are more or less captivated by this figure of the famous Borghese Nymph, in a freedom of action that they would definitely not have under the dogmatic teaching of the friends of Reynolds.
This night scene is illuminated by the warm light of a candle out of the field that gives to the marble a hue of flesh. The life size statue takes part in the atmosphere and the fascination that it exerts on one of the oldest boys demonstrates the link between art and life.
Please watch the animation shared by Sotheby's.
Joseph Wright is known with his pseudonym Wright of Derby. He lives in that town of the East Midlands but knows Darwin very well. This young artist enthusiastic of the new Enlightenment paints scenes of scientific experiments in a chiaroscuro style.
At the same time English artists gather in more or less formal clubs to better sell their art through exhibitions. Wright of Derby is a member of the Society of Artists of Great Britain. Keen to preserve his freedom of style and theme, he refuses to join the secessionists who create the Royal Academy of Arts in 1768.
An Academy by Lamplight, oil on canvas 127 x 102 cm painted in 1769 by Wright of Derby, was sold for £ 7.3M from a lower estimate of £ 2.5M by Sotheby's on December 6, 2017, lot 11.
A group of boys is busy drawing the image of an antique marble placed above them on a piece of furniture or a pedestal. Depending on their age they are more or less captivated by this figure of the famous Borghese Nymph, in a freedom of action that they would definitely not have under the dogmatic teaching of the friends of Reynolds.
This night scene is illuminated by the warm light of a candle out of the field that gives to the marble a hue of flesh. The life size statue takes part in the atmosphere and the fascination that it exerts on one of the oldest boys demonstrates the link between art and life.
Please watch the animation shared by Sotheby's.
Under the spotlight: #JosephWrightofDerby's genius shines in ‘An Academy by Lamplight’ #London #SothebysMasters https://t.co/po6qAg1GTA pic.twitter.com/Pxw6phyOHC
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) September 19, 2017
GAINSBOROUGH
1
1773 Going to Market
2019 SOLD for £ 8M by Sotheby's
Throughout his career Thomas Gainsborough has sought a compromise between his passion for the landscape and the need to earn a living through the worldly portrait. He is not comfortable with the academies but the clients show little interest in the views of English landscapes.
From 1758 to 1774 he lives and works in Bath where he finds a new clientele and gets closer to nature. The English society is undergoing a transformation at that time, at the expense of the poorer classes. This easily irritable artist is a sentimental who manages to bring charity.
Going to market, early morning, was sold for £ 8M by Sotheby's on July 3, 2019, lot 22.
This oil on canvas of large size, 122 x 147 cm, is a perfect balance between the landscape and the staging of characters and animals. A group on horseback reaches the top of a hill above the plain in the beautiful cold light of dawn.
This work is not narrative but social, showing the occupations of poor people. The group is led by a pretty young woman with big baskets of goods. She is admired by a young peasant. They are followed by three colliers who go to the mine for their daily hiring. Sitting on the side of the path, a woman with two very young children is hoping for charity.
Going to market was sold in 1773 by Gainsborough to the banker Henry Hoare. A patron of the arts, Hoare was nicknamed Henry the Magnificent. With this masterpiece, Gainsborough certainly desired to share his social sensitivity with his influential client.
This attention brought by Gainsborough to the rural transformations is contemporary with the paintings of the English industrial revolution by Wright of Derby.
From 1758 to 1774 he lives and works in Bath where he finds a new clientele and gets closer to nature. The English society is undergoing a transformation at that time, at the expense of the poorer classes. This easily irritable artist is a sentimental who manages to bring charity.
Going to market, early morning, was sold for £ 8M by Sotheby's on July 3, 2019, lot 22.
This oil on canvas of large size, 122 x 147 cm, is a perfect balance between the landscape and the staging of characters and animals. A group on horseback reaches the top of a hill above the plain in the beautiful cold light of dawn.
This work is not narrative but social, showing the occupations of poor people. The group is led by a pretty young woman with big baskets of goods. She is admired by a young peasant. They are followed by three colliers who go to the mine for their daily hiring. Sitting on the side of the path, a woman with two very young children is hoping for charity.
Going to market was sold in 1773 by Gainsborough to the banker Henry Hoare. A patron of the arts, Hoare was nicknamed Henry the Magnificent. With this masterpiece, Gainsborough certainly desired to share his social sensitivity with his influential client.
This attention brought by Gainsborough to the rural transformations is contemporary with the paintings of the English industrial revolution by Wright of Derby.
#AuctionUpdate One of #Gainsborough’s finest masterpieces in private hands, and one of the finest 18th century British landscapes by any artist ever likely to be offered. ‘Going to Market, Early Morning’ breaks the artist’s record at £7,961,000. #SothebysOldMasters pic.twitter.com/Vhj593rOr0
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) July 3, 2019
2
1775 Portrait of a Lady
2011 SOLD for £ 6.5M by Christie's
Two portraits by Thomas Gainsborough were listed on July 5, 2011 by Christie's. The young woman and the colonel are not presented in pendants : these people had no particular reason to be aware of one another, and the artworks come from separate collections.
Each of these oils on canvas is a full-length portrait, standing, life size or so. The Lady sitted circa 1775. The painting measures 226 x 147 cm. The Colonel is typical of the art of the master around 1780. Its format, 227 x 152 cm, is almost identical.
Both models look towards the artist. The masquerade dress of the young woman and the military uniform are illustrated with great realism, like the faces of the sitters.
The Lady was sold for £ 6.5M from a lower estimate of £ 4M. The Colonel passed. It had been sold for £ 2.4M before fees by Sotheby's in June 2002.
Each of these oils on canvas is a full-length portrait, standing, life size or so. The Lady sitted circa 1775. The painting measures 226 x 147 cm. The Colonel is typical of the art of the master around 1780. Its format, 227 x 152 cm, is almost identical.
Both models look towards the artist. The masquerade dress of the young woman and the military uniform are illustrated with great realism, like the faces of the sitters.
The Lady was sold for £ 6.5M from a lower estimate of £ 4M. The Colonel passed. It had been sold for £ 2.4M before fees by Sotheby's in June 2002.
1776 Portrait of Omai by Reynolds
2001 SOLD for £ 10.3M by Sotheby's
Omai is native from Raiateia island. He was in Tahiti during Wallis' visit in 1767 and Cook's first visit in 1769. He then had to find refuge on another island, Huahine. In 1773 one of the boats of the second Cook voyage, the HMS Adventure, docked in Huahine. The young man aged around 22 embarked on the Adventure, certainly with an intense curiosity concerning the life in Europe.
His arrival in London in October 1774 was a social event. Omai is handsome. He has a quick wit and good looks which remain exotic. Celebrated like a prince by the aristocracy, this son of a Polynesian peasant is in England the first living symbol of the myth of the "noble savage" which echoes Rousseau's "bon sauvage".
Joshua Reynolds, the founding president of the Royal Academy, is a painter of worldly portraits. In 1776 at the exhibition of the Academy, he displays among other paintings a portrait of Omai, oil on canvas 230 x 140 cm. The young man is standing in a proud attitude. The clothes are luxurious.
This portrait somehow inaugurates the orientalist painting and its idealism. Reynolds achieves a spectacular effect, without seeking realism. The flowing robe is inspired by the Roman toga and the oriental turban is nothing Polynesian. The landscape behind him is Greek, with a few palm trees.
This artwork is unique in the art of Reynolds, who probably created it especially without commission for the exhibition of 1776 and kept it in his studio until his death. It was sold for £ 10.3M by Sotheby's on November 29, 2001. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Omai returned to Polynesia with Cook's third voyage.
His arrival in London in October 1774 was a social event. Omai is handsome. He has a quick wit and good looks which remain exotic. Celebrated like a prince by the aristocracy, this son of a Polynesian peasant is in England the first living symbol of the myth of the "noble savage" which echoes Rousseau's "bon sauvage".
Joshua Reynolds, the founding president of the Royal Academy, is a painter of worldly portraits. In 1776 at the exhibition of the Academy, he displays among other paintings a portrait of Omai, oil on canvas 230 x 140 cm. The young man is standing in a proud attitude. The clothes are luxurious.
This portrait somehow inaugurates the orientalist painting and its idealism. Reynolds achieves a spectacular effect, without seeking realism. The flowing robe is inspired by the Roman toga and the oriental turban is nothing Polynesian. The landscape behind him is Greek, with a few palm trees.
This artwork is unique in the art of Reynolds, who probably created it especially without commission for the exhibition of 1776 and kept it in his studio until his death. It was sold for £ 10.3M by Sotheby's on November 29, 2001. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Omai returned to Polynesia with Cook's third voyage.
TURNER
1
1808 Pope's Villa at Twickenham
2008 SOLD for £ 5.4M by Sotheby's
The young Turner is a great admirer of poets, whom he wishes to equal with his graphic art. He specializes in landscapes. Following the example of Le Lorrain, he assembles from 1807 a set of studies which will serve as models for his later work and for the prints.
Turner wants to express the deep truth of nature. He explores the Thames and buys a piece of land at Twickenham in 1807. He builds there from 1812 his personal lodge according to his own taste.
A century earlier, Twickenham was the home of wealthy Londoners who wanted to escape the city. In 1719 the poet Alexander Pope had built an opulent three-story Palladian villa on the banks of the Thames, and his garden was designed to shelter the Muses.
Baroness Howe of Langar bought this estate in 1807. The memory of Pope was still attracting many visitors. To protect her peace of living, she has the villa destroyed. Of course Turner is deeply frustrated and irritated by this decision which diminishes the touristic attraction of this village which he had just chosen for himself.
The view of the Pope villa by Turner is an oil on canvas 92 x 123 cm painted in 1808. Already aiming to match the brightness of the watercolors, he had coated the canvas with a white primer.
The scene is pastoral, with small quiet figures, a young couple of shepherds, a few sheep, in the beautiful light of an autumn evening. A group of workmen discuss architectural fragments. Beyond the river, the building is the symbol of the ephemeral character of human achievements : it has already lost its roof and the windows are gaping.
He exhibited it in his gallery in London, which he has been using since 1804 to attract customers and art critics. The success of this work which expresses a poetic sensitivity with a high quality of execution is considerable. At 33, recently elected as Professor of Perspective at the Royal Academy, he is recognized by Thomas Lawrence as the best landscape painter of his time.
This painting was sold for £ 5.4M by Sotheby's on July 9, 2008, lot 91, and for $ 4.6M by Christie's on January 25, 2023, lot 153. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Turner wants to express the deep truth of nature. He explores the Thames and buys a piece of land at Twickenham in 1807. He builds there from 1812 his personal lodge according to his own taste.
A century earlier, Twickenham was the home of wealthy Londoners who wanted to escape the city. In 1719 the poet Alexander Pope had built an opulent three-story Palladian villa on the banks of the Thames, and his garden was designed to shelter the Muses.
Baroness Howe of Langar bought this estate in 1807. The memory of Pope was still attracting many visitors. To protect her peace of living, she has the villa destroyed. Of course Turner is deeply frustrated and irritated by this decision which diminishes the touristic attraction of this village which he had just chosen for himself.
The view of the Pope villa by Turner is an oil on canvas 92 x 123 cm painted in 1808. Already aiming to match the brightness of the watercolors, he had coated the canvas with a white primer.
The scene is pastoral, with small quiet figures, a young couple of shepherds, a few sheep, in the beautiful light of an autumn evening. A group of workmen discuss architectural fragments. Beyond the river, the building is the symbol of the ephemeral character of human achievements : it has already lost its roof and the windows are gaping.
He exhibited it in his gallery in London, which he has been using since 1804 to attract customers and art critics. The success of this work which expresses a poetic sensitivity with a high quality of execution is considerable. At 33, recently elected as Professor of Perspective at the Royal Academy, he is recognized by Thomas Lawrence as the best landscape painter of his time.
This painting was sold for £ 5.4M by Sotheby's on July 9, 2008, lot 91, and for $ 4.6M by Christie's on January 25, 2023, lot 153. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
2
1816 The Temple of Jupiter Panellenius Restored
2009 SOLD for $ 13M by Sotheby's
An oil on canvas by Turner, 117 x 178 cm, was sold for $ 13M by Sotheby's on January 29, 2009, lot 92.
It is a temple of Jupiter Panellenius (ie friend of the Greeks). This painting is later (1816), but the composition is similar to that of 1808: an animated green leads to a remote monument, flooded with sunlight, which is the strong point of the image. The characters of the English villa were walkers. Those of the temple, dressed according to antique fashion, play a round dance.
Turner made only three paintings inspired by Greece. We must see the influence of the romantic come back to the antique (that at that time influenced also the cloth fashion) and not a political mood, as the movements that would lead to the independence of Greece were just beginning in 1816.
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
It is a temple of Jupiter Panellenius (ie friend of the Greeks). This painting is later (1816), but the composition is similar to that of 1808: an animated green leads to a remote monument, flooded with sunlight, which is the strong point of the image. The characters of the English villa were walkers. Those of the temple, dressed according to antique fashion, play a round dance.
Turner made only three paintings inspired by Greece. We must see the influence of the romantic come back to the antique (that at that time influenced also the cloth fashion) and not a political mood, as the movements that would lead to the independence of Greece were just beginning in 1816.
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
