John Russell
(1745-1806), Portrait painter and pastellistMid-Georgian Portraits Catalogue Entry
Sitter associated with 6 portraits
Artist associated with 102 portraits
One of the eighteenth century's leading pastel portraitists. He was a deeply religious man who converted to Methodism in 1764. His diaries, kept throughout his life, record his concerns for his own spiritual welfare. He refused to work on Sundays or to go out to dinner, afraid of the blasphemous conversation he might hear. He numbered many evangelical preachers among his sitters including Rowland Hill. In 1770 Russell turned from oils to pastel, using grey or blue paper and smudging before accenting with black chalk.
by John Russell
black, white and red chalk with some pencil on grey paper, circa 1780
NPG 3907
by John Russell
pastel, circa 1780
NPG 1788
Unknown man, formerly known as John Russell
by Unknown artist
grey wash, circa 1810-1820
NPG 3160
by William Daniell, after George Dance
soft-ground etching, (13 April 1793)
NPG D12098
by Charles (Cantelowe, Cantlo) Bestland, after Henry Singleton
stipple engraving, published 1802 (1795)
NPG D10716
by Charles (Cantelowe, Cantlo) Bestland, after Henry Singleton
stipple engraving, published 1802 (1795)
NPG D36021
Comments back to top
We are currently unable to accept new comments, but any past comments are available to read below.
If you need information from us, please use our Archive enquiry service . Please note that we cannot provide valuations. You can buy a print or greeting card of most illustrated portraits. Select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Buy a Print button. Prices start at around £6 for unframed prints, £16 for framed prints. If you wish to license an image, select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Use this image button, or contact our Rights and Images service. We digitise over 8,000 portraits a year and we cannot guarantee being able to digitise images that are not already scheduled.