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Sir Godfrey Kneller
Portrait of a Young Woman, Sir Godfrey Kneller, Hand carved gilt frame

Name: Portrait of a Young Woman, Sir Godfrey Kneller, Hand carved gilt frame
Brand: Sir Godfrey Kneller
Price: 23064.78 USD
Availability: InStock

About the Item

Oil on canvas Image size: 30 1/4 x 25 inches (77 x 63 cm) Original hand carved gilt frame Provenance Private Estate, England This is a very fine example of Kneller's work in the early 18th century. Here, the emphasis is placed directly on the sitter's alluring femininity, with this being enhanced by the falling hair around her shoulder. This looseness of focus is created with a free fluidity of brushstrokes. He has used a Rembrandt-esque technique of subtle tones in the face, and we can see how Kneller often allowed the bluer ground layer to show through when suggesting the darker flesh tones.The painterly technique seen here is an excellent demonstration of Kneller’s style. The bold handling of the flesh tones is Kneller at his most emphatic, while the sizeable areas of dark grey ground we see are indicative of his method of painting quickly, developed by this stage in his career to cope with the many demands of a large circle of patrons. The same effect is used for the shadows in the face: rather than paint darker colours on top of the pink flesh tones, as most artists would have done, Kneller instead painted in the reverse order, using the ground layer for his dark shadows, and then painting the lighter colours on top. Often he worked with an almost dry brush in strong firm strokes. Here the flesh tones have been rapidly, almost roughly painted, with bold areas of impasto giving way to areas where almost no paint has been applied at all, a trick that allowed Kneller to use the blue-grey ground layer to show darker flesh tones. Godfrey Kneller German-born painter who settled in England and became the leading portraitist there in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. He studied in Amsterdam under Bol, a pupil of Rembrandt, and later in Italy, before moving to England, probably in the mid-1670s. The opportune death of serious rivals (notably Lely in 1680) and his own arrogant self-assurance enabled him to establish himself as the dominant court and society painter by the beginning of the reign of James II (1685). Following the accession of William III and Mary II in 1689 he was appointed their principal painter jointly with John Riley (becoming sole bearer of the title when Riley died in 1691), in 1692 he was knighted, and in 1715 he was created a baronet by George I, an unprecedented honour for a painter. Kneller built Kneller Hall a mansion in Whitton, it is reputedly built by Sir Christopher Wren. It is now a training centre for musicians in the British Army.

Creator:

Sir Godfrey Kneller (1646 - 1723, British)

Dimensions:

Height: 30.25 in (76.84 cm)Width: 25 in (63.5 cm)

More Editions & Sizes:

1 of 1Price: $23,065

Medium:

Canvas,Oil

Movement & Style:

Academic

Period:

Early 18th Century

Condition:

Gallery Location:

London, GB

Reference Number:

1stDibs: LU52413590682

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Shop All Sir Godfrey Kneller

Sir Godfrey Kneller

Sir Godfrey Kneller was a leading English Baroque portraitist whose subjects included nobility, politicians, poets, writers and other notable figures. His figurative and portrait paintings were in great demand for more than three decades around the turn of the 18th century.

Kneller was born in Lübeck, Germany, in 1646. His father was a painter and a city surveyor, positions which gave Kneller the opportunity of a university education. He studied mathematics at Leiden University in the Netherlands before shifting to painting, studying under luminaries such as Ferdinand Bol and Rembrandt.

In 1672, Kneller moved to Italy where he spent time in Rome and Venice painting portraits for the nobility. Around 1676, he moved to England, where he opened a studio. An encounter with the Duke of Monmouth led to an introduction to King Charles II, and Kneller became a court painter, garnering a reputation for his grand style. The young painter’s portraits had a penetrating quality that evoked the subject’s presence through like-like qualities on canvas.

In 1684, Kneller traveled to France to paint Louis XIV. Following the death of Charles II, he became the court painter for James II and later worked for his successors, William and Mary. Kneller was knighted in 1692 and received an honorary doctorate of law from the University of Oxford in 1695.

Between 1700 and 1720, he painted 42 portraits of members of the Kit-Cat Club, a political and literary group. Mary II also commissioned him to paint the Hampton Court Beauties, a series of paintings featuring the most graceful ladies of the royal court.

In 1711, Kneller became the governor of the London Academy and subsequently won re-election every year until 1718. King George I made him a baronet in 1715.

Kneller died in London in 1723, with hundreds of unfinished paintings remaining in the prolific portrait master's studio.

On 1stDibs, find a collection of Sir Godfrey Kneller’s paintings.