JANE (FLEMING) COUNTESS OF HARRINGTON - BY VALENTINE GREEN AFTER SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS.

A fine full length mezzotint portrait of Jane (Fleming) Countess of Harrington by Valentine Green after Sir Joshua Reynolds. The stylish Lady Harrington walking in pastoral nature; painted by Reynolds in 1775.

Jane Stanhope, Countess of Harrington (née Fleming; 23 May 1755 – 3 February 1824), was a society hostess and heiress who served as a lady of the Bedchamber lady of the Bedchamber to the British Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.

Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792) was one of the most important figures of the eighteenth century art world. He was the first President of the Royal Academy and Britain's leading portrait painter. Through a series of lectures on the Discourses on Art at the Royal Academy he defined the style later known as the Grand Manner, an idealised Classical aesthetic. He had a profound impact on the theory and practice of art and helped to raise the status of portrait painting into the realm of fine art. A flamboyant socialite, Reynolds used his social contacts to promote himself and advance his career becoming one of the most prominent portrait painters of the period.

Bibliography:

1884 Smith, John Chaloner. British mezzotinto portraits, being a descriptive catalogue of these engravings from the introduction of the art to the early part of the present century. 4 vols. London: Henry Sotheran and Co., 1884.

1902 Whitman, Alfred. British Mezzotinters: Valentine Green. London: A.H. Bullen, 1902.

Sheet: 45cm x 38cm Framed: 60cm x 53cm

Price: £660