Jonathan Richardson
(1667-1745), Portrait painterEarly Georgian Portraits Catalogue Entry
Sitter in 8 portraits
Artist associated with 126 portraits
One of the most successful native-born portraitists of the first decades of the eighteenth century, Richardson was the master of Thomas Hudson and George Knapton. He owned a superb collection of Old Master drawings. His Theory of Painting published in 1715, inspired the young Joshua Reynolds to become an artist. Richardson was exceptionally fond of drawing portraits of himself and his close friends; Horace Walpole later commented that 'after his retirement form the business the good old man seems to have amused himself with writing a short poem and drawing his own or his son's portrait every day'.
by Jonathan Richardson
oil on canvas, circa 1729
NPG 706
by Jonathan Richardson
pencil on vellum, 1730
NPG 1831
by Jonathan Richardson
black and red chalk, early 1730s
NPG 1693
by or after Jonathan Richardson
pencil on vellum, 1730s
NPG 1576d
by Jonathan Richardson
black chalk heightened with white on blue paper, October 1735
NPG 3779
by Jonathan Richardson
pen and pencil, 1736
NPG 3023
by Jonathan Richardson
etching, mid 18th century
NPG D27612
by Jonathan Richardson
etching, 1738
NPG D17071
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