Roy Precious - Antiques & Fine Art has dated this 18th Century Portrait Painting to the 18th Century.
Knapton managed to invest his clients with an air of distinction without them looking aloof.
GEORGE KNAPTON (1698–1778) was an English portrait painter, he was born in Christchurch, Hampshire, the son of William Knapton Esquire of Brockenhurst, Hampshire. He studied art under Jonathan Richardson, then at the St. Martin's Lane Academy. He spent some years in Italy where he became known as a sound judge of the works of the Old Masters. An account of his visit to Herculaneum was published in the "Philosophical Transactions" of 1740 (no. 458).
Knapton was an original member of the "Society of Dilettanti" and their first portrait artist. He painted many members of the society, including the Duke of Dorset, Viscount Galway, Sir Francis Dashwood, the Earl of Holdernesse, Earl of Bessborough and Sir Bourchier Wray. Knapton resigned his position at the society in 1763.
In 1750, the then Prince of Wales had commissioned Knapton, together with George Vertue, to produce a catalogue of the pictures at Kensington Palace, Hampton Court and Windsor Castle. In 1765, he succeeded Stephen Slaughter as Surveyor and Keeper of the King's Pictures; he was also in charge of Lord Spencer's collection at Althorp, Northamptonshire.
SIZE: 29 x 24.5 framed.
PROVENANCE: Private Collection, Wiltshire.
Roy Precious - Antiques & Fine Art has dated this 18th Century Portrait Painting to the 18th Century.
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Portrait of a Girl, C.1760: Attributed to George Knapton.
