John Opie
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- Extended Catalogue Entry
© National Portrait Gallery, London
John Opie
by John Opie
oil on canvas, 1785
29 1/4 in. x 24 1/2 in. (743 mm x 622 mm)
Purchased, 1858
Primary Collection
NPG 47
On display in Room 18 on Floor 3 at the National Portrait Gallery
Sitterback to top
- John Opie (1761-1807), Portrait and history painter. Sitter in 13 portraits, Artist or producer associated with 151 portraits.
Artistback to top
- John Opie (1761-1807), Portrait and history painter. Artist or producer associated with 151 portraits, Sitter in 13 portraits.
This portraitback to top
Opie painted many self-portraits, mainly to experiment with different styles of painting. This portrait was made at the time Opie was establishing his reputation in London.
Linked publicationsback to top
- Holmes, Richard, The Romantic Poets and Their Circle, 2013, p. 24
- Holmes, Richard, Insights: The Romantic Poets and Their Circle, 2005, p. 18
- Holmes, Richard; Crane, David; Woof, Robert; Hebron, Stephen, Romantics and Revolutionaries: Regency portraits from the National Portrait Gallery, 2002, p. 14
- Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 469
- Walker, Richard, Regency Portraits, 1985, p. 377
Events of 1785back to top
Current affairs
George Prince of Wales secretly marries his mistress Maria Fitzherbert in contravention of the Royal Marriages Act of 1772.Prime Minister William Pitt introduces a bill proposing parliamentary reform and the abolition of 'rotten boroughs' but is defeated.
Art and science
William Cowper publishes his best -known poem The Task.James Boswell publishes The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides, narrating his travels with the late writer Samuel Johnson.
Physician and naturalist James Hutton presents his studies of local rocks to the Royal Society of Edinburgh, launching the era of scientific geology.
International
Warren Hastings resigns as Governor-General of Bengal and returns to England. His trial begins on charges of corruption in the administration of India.French sculptor Jean Antoine Houdon crosses the Atlantic to sculpt a statue of George Washington.
British government establishes a permanent land force in the Eastern Caribbean, based in Barbados.
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