Oil on canvas.Huge exquisite circa 1850 portrait of a young lady wearing a blue satin dress with black lace shawl by London artist Charles Baxter. Testament to the fine work that it is, Baxter exhibited it at London’s Royal Academy in 1850 (no. 154). It was amongst the 45 works that the artist exhibited there between 1834 and 1872. 16 years later he was elected President there, in 1866.The inscription on the presentation label ascribes the sitter as ‘Kathleen’ and he integrated her beautifully and harmoniously into an open-air setting, in the tradition of English portraiture from Sir Anthony van Dyck to Sir Thomas Lawrence. Baxter painted beauties of all social classes, but ultimately his favourite subjects were that of the aristocracy. His poetic and rustic subjects, and particularly his fancy ‘keepsake’ portraits based on the style of Sir Thomas Lawrence were very popular and were reproduced as fine engravings from which he received substantial royalties. An absolut...