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 Robert Pranker, after Katharine Read
line engraving, (circa 1750-1775)
NPG D14785
after Katharine Read
mezzotint, (circa 1750-1775)
NPG D15272
Catharine Macaulay (née Sawbridge)
by Jonathan Spilsbury, published by John Spilsbury, after Katharine Read
mezzotint, published September 1764
NPG D3648
Catharine Macaulay (née Sawbridge)
by Jonathan Spilsbury, published by John Spilsbury, after Katharine Read
mezzotint, published September 1764
NPG D5655
Catharine Macaulay (née Sawbridge)
by Jonathan Spilsbury, after Katharine Read
mezzotint, published 1764
NPG D13745
Catharine Macaulay (née Sawbridge)
by Jonathan Spilsbury, after Katharine Read
mezzotint, published September 1764
NPG D15235
King George IV; Frederick, Duke of York and Albany
by James Watson, after Katharine Read
mezzotint, circa 1765-1770
NPG D33327
by James Watson, sold by Ryland and Bryer, after Katharine Read
mezzotint, published circa 1765-1772
NPG D39401
after Katharine Read
mezzotint, circa 1765-1780
NPG D4502
after Katharine Read
mezzotint, circa 1765-1780
NPG D4503
by James Watson, sold by Ryland and Bryer, after Katharine Read
mezzotint, after 1767
NPG D10660
by James Watson, after Katharine Read
mezzotint, after 1767
NPG D3401
Helena (née Beatson), Lady Oakeley
by James Watson, after Katharine Read
mezzotint, published 1768
NPG D23554
William Kerr, 6th Marquess of Lothian when Lord Newbattle; Lady Elizabeth Dormer (née Kerr)
by Valentine Green, published by Ryland and Bryer, after Katharine Read
mezzotint, published 1768
NPG D37444
Helena (née Beatson), Lady Oakeley
by James Watson, after Katharine Read
mezzotint, published 1768
NPG D39340
Helena (née Beatson), Lady Oakeley
by James Watson, published by Robert Sayer, after Katharine Read
mezzotint, published 1 January 1768
NPG D14199
Harriet Mackenzie (née Powell), Countess of Seaforth
by Richard Houston, published by Robert Sayer, after Katharine Read
mezzotint, published 1 October 1769
NPG D40622
by Williams, after Katharine Read
line engraving, 1770
NPG D31911
by James Wilson, after Katharine Read
mezzotint, 1770s
NPG D10661
by James Wilson, after Katharine Read
mezzotint, 1770s
NPG D36835
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