A Pair Of 18th Century Portraits Of A Lady And A Gentleman

A beautiful and impressive pair of portraits depicting a successful man and woman (presumably husband and wife) by the great pastelist and oil painter, Francis Cotes. These portraits are the earliest examples of Francis Cotes' oil work and they offer an enchanting snapshot of the middle classes of mid-Georgian England. Francis Cotes (1726-1770) For much of his career until the late 1750s, Cotes had been a specialist in pastels, perfecting his use of the medium to produce naturalistic portraits that conveyed a sense of the sitter's individual character . Although Cotes' first oil portrait is dated 1753, it was not until the end of the decade that he began to work more intensively in the medium. Deeply impressed by the example of Allan Ramsay, who established his career in London after his return from Italy in 1757, Cotes began to develop a manner of painting that introduced something of the gentleness of the pastellist's art to the more formal medium of oils on canvas. . This pair of portraits dates from this earlier period and can be compared to Cotes' portraits of Sarah Robinson (University of Southampton) and Mrs Hamilton of Raploch (Low Parks Museum) dated 1761 and 1762 respectively, when Cotes' work was still preserving the intimate atmosphere of pastel. portrait before assuming a more grandiose manner in the late 1760s. Cotes achieved the status of being one of the most talked about figures in the London art world. To cement his professional success, in 1763 he leased a house at 32 Cavendish Square, a fashionable and recently developed area of Marylebone. The house included a room that he used for teaching his students, a studio in which he could paint his models, and a gallery in which he could show examples of his work to potential clients. As the 1760s progressed, Cotes was greatly influenced by Reynolds' example, his coloring becoming bolder and his models increasingly presented in a large-scale, comprehensive format. Unlike this later period of his work (when he often preferred to show his models in generalized classical attire), the models here are shown wearing the kind of clothes they might have worn on special occasions in their everyday lives. The gentleman is dressed in a fashionable three-piece suit with a crozier and tie tied around his neck. The shorter wig marks the transition in the mid-18th century away from the bulky full-bottomed wig. The lady, who we assume to be his wife based on the conventions of couple portraiture, wears an elaborate silk coat over a petticoat covered in a filmy fabric. She wears a lace bonnet tied with a pink silk ribbon with another pink ribbon tied in a bow on her chest. There are many reasons why portraits like this might have been commissioned. Often, however, they were commissioned to commemorate special occasions, the most obvious being a wedding. It may be that this portrait was commissioned with a similar function in mind. Cotes' talent was so great that press critics began to favorably compare his work to that of Reynolds. Shortly before his death, William Hogarth went even further, stating that Cotes' work was superior to that of Reynolds. These beautiful portraits are in an excellent state of preservation and are ready to hang and enjoy in their probably original hand-carved and gilded 18th century frames, which are in themselves a work of art. High resolution images on request. Worldwide shipping available. Canvas: 20" x 24" / 51.5cm x 61cm. Framed: 27" x 31" / 69cm x 79cm.