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拍品专文
Painted in 1775, this beautifully preserved full-length portrait of Thomas Assheton Smith is an exceptionally fine example of Nathaniel Dance’s mature work. The classical elegance of the composition and vibrant palette display the considerable influence of the great eighteenth-century portraitist Pompeo Batoni (1709-1787), with whom Dance had worked in Rome during his formative years in Italy.
After his return to London in 1765, Dance rapidly achieved fame as both a portrait and history painter. His reputation in the latter genre was secured with King George III’s acquisition of his Timon of Athens in 1767 (Royal Collection). Dance was among the twenty-two artists who successfully petitioned the king in 1768 to establish a Royal Academy: in the first exhibition held the following year, the artist showed full-length portraits of King George III and Queen Charlotte (West Sussex, Uppark, National Trust); and in 1771 he exhibited a painting of David Garrick as Richard III (Stratford-on-Avon, Town Hall). At this point in his career, Dance evidently subscribed to the contemporary academic theory that placed historical painting first in the hierarchy of subject matter, but following the king’s appointment of Benjamin West as his official history painter in 1772, Dance turned increasingly to portraiture. In 1776, the year after the present picture was executed, the artist was commissioned by Sir Joseph Banks to paint the now celebrated portrait of Captain Cook (Greenwich, National Maritime Museum), for which Cook sat on 25 May of that year, shortly before his departure for the third and final voyage.
The sitter was the eldest son of Thomas Assheton of Ashley, Mobberley in Cheshire, and Mary Clayton, heiress of Brymbo Hall, Denbighshire. His father had added the surname Smith when he inherited the Vaenol and Tedworth estates in Gwynedd and Hampshire from his uncle William Smith. The sitter married Elizabeth, daughter of Watkin Wynn (1717-1774) of Foelas, Denbighshire, and the couple had eight children. Assheton Smith was a keen sportsman and became a prominent figure in the cricketing world following the establishment of the MCC in 1787; he took part in 45 major matches between 1786 and 1797. His second son, Thomas (1776-1858) was one of the outstanding amateur cricketers of the nineteenth century and a famous Master of foxhounds, with his contemporaries naming him ‘the British Nimrod’. His third son, William saw action at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 as lieutenant of HMS Temeraire, the subject of Turner’s 1838 masterpiece in the National Gallery, London. A portrait of the sitter, painted by William Beechey in 1826, is in the National Museum Cardiff, Wales.
After his return to London in 1765, Dance rapidly achieved fame as both a portrait and history painter. His reputation in the latter genre was secured with King George III’s acquisition of his Timon of Athens in 1767 (Royal Collection). Dance was among the twenty-two artists who successfully petitioned the king in 1768 to establish a Royal Academy: in the first exhibition held the following year, the artist showed full-length portraits of King George III and Queen Charlotte (West Sussex, Uppark, National Trust); and in 1771 he exhibited a painting of David Garrick as Richard III (Stratford-on-Avon, Town Hall). At this point in his career, Dance evidently subscribed to the contemporary academic theory that placed historical painting first in the hierarchy of subject matter, but following the king’s appointment of Benjamin West as his official history painter in 1772, Dance turned increasingly to portraiture. In 1776, the year after the present picture was executed, the artist was commissioned by Sir Joseph Banks to paint the now celebrated portrait of Captain Cook (Greenwich, National Maritime Museum), for which Cook sat on 25 May of that year, shortly before his departure for the third and final voyage.
The sitter was the eldest son of Thomas Assheton of Ashley, Mobberley in Cheshire, and Mary Clayton, heiress of Brymbo Hall, Denbighshire. His father had added the surname Smith when he inherited the Vaenol and Tedworth estates in Gwynedd and Hampshire from his uncle William Smith. The sitter married Elizabeth, daughter of Watkin Wynn (1717-1774) of Foelas, Denbighshire, and the couple had eight children. Assheton Smith was a keen sportsman and became a prominent figure in the cricketing world following the establishment of the MCC in 1787; he took part in 45 major matches between 1786 and 1797. His second son, Thomas (1776-1858) was one of the outstanding amateur cricketers of the nineteenth century and a famous Master of foxhounds, with his contemporaries naming him ‘the British Nimrod’. His third son, William saw action at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 as lieutenant of HMS Temeraire, the subject of Turner’s 1838 masterpiece in the National Gallery, London. A portrait of the sitter, painted by William Beechey in 1826, is in the National Museum Cardiff, Wales.