Katharine Read
(1723-1778), Portrait painterArtist associated with 40 portraits
From an aristocratic family in Dundee. In 1745, she went to Paris to study crayon painting under Maurice-Quentin de La Tour. She moved to Rome in 1751, where she established a portraiture clientele from the Italian aristocracy and the transient British expatriate community in Rome on the grand tour. Read returned to Britain and set up her studio in London in 1753, establishing a reputation as one of the most fashionable portrait painters in crayon, which she sustained for over twenty years. In 1777 Read, accompanied by her niece Helena Beatson, travelled to India in the hope of establishing a practice for herself in Madras. The following year she set sail for the Cape; she died en route and was buried at sea.
by James Wilson, after Katharine Read
mezzotint, 1770s
NPG D3396
published by John Bowles, after Katharine Read
mezzotint, 1770s
NPG D3397
published by John Bowles, after Katharine Read
mezzotint, 1770s
NPG D3398
published by John Bowles, after Katharine Read
mezzotint, 1770s
NPG D3399
published by John Bowles, after Katharine Read
mezzotint, 1770s
NPG D3400
Helena (née Beatson), Lady Oakeley
by Elizabeth Judkins, printed for Robert Sayer, after Katharine Read
mezzotint, published 1 July 1770
NPG D3710
Elizabeth (née Gunning), Baroness Hamilton of Hameldon
by John Finlayson, after Katharine Read
mezzotint, published 1770
NPG D7115
Elizabeth (née Gunning), Baroness Hamilton of Hameldon
by John Finlayson, after Katharine Read
mezzotint, published 1770
NPG D7116
Elizabeth (née Gunning), Baroness Hamilton of Hameldon
by John Finlayson, after Katharine Read
mezzotint, published 1770
NPG D7117
Maria (née Gunning), Countess of Coventry
by John Finlayson, after Katharine Read
mezzotint, published 15 May 1771
NPG D34185
Maria (née Gunning), Countess of Coventry
by John Finlayson, after Katharine Read
mezzotint, published 15 May 1771
NPG D34186
Mary Sturt; Humphrey Ashley Sturt
by James Watson, after Katharine Read
mezzotint, published 1771
NPG D42111
Mary Sturt; Humphrey Ashley Sturt
by James Watson, printed for Robert Sayer, after Katharine Read
mezzotint, published 20 June 1771
NPG D42112
Mary Sturt; Humphrey Ashley Sturt
by James Watson, printed for Robert Sayer, after Katharine Read
mezzotint, published 20 June 1771
NPG D42113
Elizabeth (née Gunning), Baroness Hamilton of Hameldon
by Robert Laurie, published by Robert Sayer, after Katharine Read
mezzotint, published 25 February 1771
NPG D7118
Sir Joseph Sydney Yorke aged three years
by Valentine Green, published by John Boydell, after Katharine Read
mezzotint, published 17 February 1772
NPG D36255
Sir Joseph Sydney Yorke aged three years
by Valentine Green, published by John Boydell, after Katharine Read
mezzotint, published 17 February 1772
NPG D36256
Lady Elizabeth Dormer (née Kerr); William Kerr, 6th Marquess of Lothian when Lord Newbattle
by Valentine Green, published by Robert Sayer, after Katharine Read
mezzotint, published 1779
NPG D5646
Catharine Macaulay (née Sawbridge)
by Jonathan Spilsbury, published by John Spilsbury, after Katharine Read
mezzotint, published September 1764
NPG D20102
by Williams, after Katharine Read
line engraving, 1770
NPG D31845
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