Portraiture and the Conversation Piece
Much painting had been done in England by a handful of native artists well into the eighteenth century, although it was foreign artists that had dominated the market for paintings. British artists could not form a style that was original and one they could call their own, thus they were seldom admired. In the early eighteenth century British aristocrats usually employed foreign artists to do their portraits. It was not until William Hogarth, local artwork would be noticed. He promoted distinct British traditions to his artwork and became the first native artist to be known on an international scale. He paved the way for future artists that would come to follow him. By the mid-eighteenth century it became fashionable to have paintings done by British artists, instead of foreign painters. It was not only popular, it showed that the owner of the painting had taste. Hogarth was not only noted for his portraiture, but was responsible for popularising a new form of portraiture called the conversion piece. The conversation piece was a step back from the formal portraiture, but gained widespread interest all over England. In this essay I would like to examine the two forms of artwork that were most popular during the eighteenth
The blue costume the boy is wearing is very bright compared to his very dark landscape background. What is portraiture? According to Webster's Dictionary, a portrait can be defined as the likeness of a person, painted, drawn or engraved; commonly, a representation of the human face painted from real life. Again in this painting there is a dog at the master's feet, which symbolizes obedience. The owners of the paintings were probably very different. Now lets move on to the conversation piece. If the painter is good enough, he can tell so much about the subject(s) to the viewers with an assortment of representations and meanings. Reynolds studied painting in London, but it wasn't until his return from Rome when he was twenty-nine, that he was recognized as one of England's leading portrait painters. Also, if one owned such paintings they would be one of taste. Although in the conversation piece Mr Andrews leans against the bench, I think this shows modesty. It can be argued that all conversation pieces are portraitures, but not all portraitures or conversation pieces, depending on the mood of the painting. Now let's look at one of Gainsborough's conversation pieces. Mr Andrews could afford to buy this painting because he owned land. Most paintings of these subjects were very formal and flaunted the subject's possessions. Reynolds is another influential painter of the later eighteenth century. Also, conversation pieces usually contained more people in the painting.
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