Portrait Of An English Gentleman From The Early 18th Century

A richly colored, highly decorative and remarkably well-preserved early 18th-century oil on canvas of a dashing gentleman by an artist from the circle of Charles Jervas.

The seductive model is depicted mid-body in a faux oval cartouche and, with body and head slightly bowed, he looks at us with the most knowing of expressions.

He wears the traditional costume of aristocratic men of the period, and in his case, it's a richly colored red velvet coat worn with a finely embroidered white tie. Atop her head is a gray wig with lush curls.

Clearly, this portrait was executed by a most accomplished hand who relished the exploration of color. Of particular note here is the bravura use of lead white to enhance the costume, the well-preserved pigments, as well as the models' faces. This is a sensitively rendered recording of a real character!

Charles Jervas (circa 1675 - 1739)
Jervas was an Irish portrait painter, translator and art collector.
Born in County Offaly, Ireland, circa 1675, Jervas studied in London, England, as an assistant to Sir Godfrey Kneller between 1694 and 1695.
Painting portraits of the city's intellectuals, including personal friends such as Jonathan Swift and the poet Alexander Pope (both in London's National Portrait Gallery), Charles Jervas became a popular artist often mentioned in the works of literary figures of the time.
Jervas gave Pope painting lessons at his house in Cleveland Court, St James's, which Pope mentions in his poem, To Belinda on the Rape of the Lock , written in 1713, published in 1717 in ``Poems on Multiple Occasions''.
With his growing reputation, Jervas succeeded Kneller as King George I's principal portraitist in 1723 and continued to live in London until his death in 1739, although he made long visits to Ireland.


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Canvas: 30.5" x 25" / 77cm x 64cm.
Frame: 36" x 31" / 92cm x 79cm