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National Portrait Gallery
Mid-Georgian Portraits 1760-1790
John Ingamells

The National Portrait Gallery's great sequence of illustrated catalogues of the collection embraces the period 1500-1860, with one conspicuous gap: the late eighteenth century, the Golden Age of British portraiture. It is this gap that is now filled by Mid-Georgian Portraits 1760-1790, sponsored by the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art.

This sumptuous catalogue includes such famous figures as David Garrick and Dr Samuel Johnson, Sarah Siddons and Emma Hamilton, and the work of such celebrated artists as Gainsborough, Reynolds and Romney. It has been compiled by one of the leading authorities on eighteenth-century English portraiture, John Ingamells. A brief biographical note accompanies each sitter, followed by a detailed examination of each of the Gallery's portraits and an account of authentic portraits in other collections. Works from the Gallery collection have been re-examined in the studio, sometimes for the first time in many years, with interesting results. X-rays of the Reynolds portrait of Sir William Chambers, for example, reveal considerable changes of mind on the part of the young artist, while William Hoare's portrait of Lord Egremont, usually on loan to the House of Commons, has proved to be by Hoare himself, rather than his studio.

A major enterprise and a valuable sourcebook for historians in many fields, this publication represents a substantial contribution to our knowledge of the art and personalities of this period.

Author
John Ingamells was formerly Director of York Art Gallery and the Wallace Collection. He has also written catalogues on eighteenth-century artists including Mercier, Soldi and Ramsay.

275 x 248mm, 640 pages
Over 1000 images, 460 in colour
ISBN 1 85514 519 7
Special online promotion £50 (RRP £125 cloth)
Published June 2004

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All images and text are subject to copyright protection. 22 November 2008