1770
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Dominant colour
Portrait of a Man, Possibly Sir Soulden Lawrence is a 1770 unspecified by John Smart, a Rococo painting work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
A man in a powdered wig and gold-embroidered blue coat looks straight at you. His lace collar is crisp, his cheeks softly pink. This small portrait was likely painted on ivory—common for miniatures at the time. The gold thread on his coat is so fine you can almost count the stitches. The artist, John Smart, was still finding his style; later, his faces would look more sunburned. To see how Smart’s work changed, look up other portraits from england, 18th century.
This portrait is an excellent example of John Smart’s early work. The unknown sitter has blue eyes and wears a light blue coat embroidered in gold, a white waistcoat, and a high white collar with a lace frill down the front. He also dons a powdered wig—still fashionable in 1770. While the sitter’s cheeks are flushed with a delicate pink, his complexion does not have the ruddy quality so often seen in Smart’s later work. The intricate gold embroidery on the sitter’s jacket exemplifies the ornamentation lavished upon menswear during the early and mid-eighteenth century—a male fashion trend…
This miniature is signed by the artist John Smart, who used his initials JS.
Read the full account in the museum source.
John Smart (1 May 1741 – 1 May 1811) was an English painter who specialised in portrait miniatures. He was a contemporary of Richard Cosway, George Engleheart, William Wood and Richard Crosse.
See the richer artist page
