Portrait of a Gentleman C.1809; Circle of Charles Howard Hodges (1764-1837)

This attractive portrait depicts a young gentleman in fashionable clothing. The double-breasted coat with the high collar, the type of cut-out on the label, the cravat, the slim tan waistcoat collar, and the hairstyle were fashionable circa 1809. The artist endowed the sitter with a distinctive air of charm and intelligence. These charming regency portraits were popular throughout Europe.

The portrait shows elements of the British schools but also a strong influence of the type of portrait favoured in Europe, with the lighter pallet and the grey muted tones in the background, notably the prolific British born painter Charles Howard Hodges. Hodges worked in Dublin but spent most of his career in the Netherlands painting over 700 portraits of the rich and famous of the period including all the leaders of the Netherlands during the Napoleonic Period.

The stretcher contains a label for the Dublin-based firm: “J.D.Spence, Printseller, Fine Art Dealer, Artists Colorman, Picture Frame Maker”. Held in a fine gilded antique frame.

Charles Howard Hodges (1764-1837) was a painter and printmaker born in London. In 1782, he enrolled at the Royal Academy schools in London. After a visit to the Netherlands in 1788 with the art dealer William Humphrey, and after a two year stay in Dublin, he moved with this family to The Hague in 1792. In 1793 he joined the artists' association Pictura. In 1797, he and his family moved to Amsterdam, where he lived with his teacher Johann Friedrich August Tischbein. Initially Hodges concentrated on mezzotint engravings, mostly after the work of English masters such as Reynolds, Romney and Hoppner, but he soon achieved fame with his portraits in oils and pastel. Hodges died in Amsterdam in 1837.

Provenance: The stretcher contains an old wax seal bearing a bust portrait of a man

Measurements: Height 69.5cm, Width 59cm framed (Height 27.5”, Width 23.25” framed)

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