18th Century English Oil on Canvas Portrait of an Elegant Lady - By Thomas Hudson (1701-1779)

Period Portraits are thrilled that conservation has has revealed this fine 18th century portrait of an elegant beauty, to be an original work by the British painter Thomas Hudson (1701-1779).

This painting is a high quality example of Hudson’s work. The visible brushstrokes in the sitter’s face is most characteristic of the artist. This include the horizontal strokes for the eyes and mouth, which are strongly contrasted to the verticals evident in the nose, cheeks and edge of the face. Fortunately, and in contrast to many other examples, these details have been beautifully preserved. Equally fine is the drapery. The contrast between the thick white impasto and the smooth blue velvet of her cloak speaks of the painting’s quality.

Thomas Hudson (1701-1779)

During the 1740s Hudson became one of Britain’s leading portrait painters. He had trained as a youth with his father-in-law the theorist and painter Jonathan Richardson, whose bold Baroque portraiture he absorbed and built upon. The earliest records of his work date to the late 1720s, where the artist began splitting his time between London and the West Country. Like many painters of the seventeenth and eighteenth century, he was often drawn to Bath to paint the wealthy sitters this spa town attracted. His studio in London became a hive of activity of wealthy patrons and aspiring pupils. Amongst his pupils were Joshua Reynolds, Joseph Wright of Derby and John Hamilton Mortimer. Hudson threw in his lot with other aspiring artists of the British School, and regularly met with the likes of Hogarth, Hayman, Ramsay and Rysbrack at the Old Slaughter’s Coffee House in St Martin’s Lane. He collaborated with the painter Joseph van Aken, who painted the drapery of many of his finest works. This collaboration shows how great the demand for the artist’s brush had become.

This fine painting is in an excellent state of conservation and is offered in a fine eighteenth century carved and gilded frame with sanded slip.

Higher resolution images on request.

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Canvas: 25" x 30” / 64cm x 77cm.

Frame: 34” x 39” / 87cm x 99cm.