Portrait of John Luke George Hely-Hutchinson, 5th Earl of Donoughmore (1848-1900) as a child, half-length

Celebrated as one of the most sympathetic and successful portrait painters of his period, Richmond, a follower of the visionary artist William Blake (1757-1827), began his training by making regular visits to the British Museum to draw from the antique. He joined the Royal Academy Schools in 1824 under the tutelage of Henry Fuseli (1741-1825), Professor of Painting, and began exhibiting in 1825. He was most in demand for his portraiture and so from 1832 he concentrated on this and succeeded in painting portraits of many of the dignitaries of the day, such as William Wilberforce (1759-1833) and Charles Darwin (1809-1882).

Educated at Eton and Balliol College, Oxford, the 5th Earl of Donoughmore lived at Knocklofty, County Tipperary, Ireland, his ancestral family seat.

For an earlier tree study by Richmond see lot 111.