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Portrait of a lady
(early 19th century)
- Credit Line
- National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased by the Commissioners of Fine Arts for Victoria, 1865
- Gallery location
- 19th Century European Paintings Gallery
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
William Beechey was the most admired portrait painter of his day and was highly successful, yet his reputation has been overshadowed by his predecessor Sir Joshua Reynolds, regarded as one of Britain’s most significant artists. Beechey was also eclipsed by the brilliant and popular Sir Thomas Lawrence. Nevertheless, the quality of Beechey’s work, as exemplified by this delicately painted portrait, fully justified his high status in his lifetime. His portraits of women are particularly important as they capture a dynamic period in fashion when dress styles changed radically following the end of the Napoleonic wars.
Artwork Details
Purchased by the Commissioners of Fine Arts for Victoria, 1865
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Digitisation Champion Ms Carol Grigor through Metal Manufactures Limited
Level 2, NGV International
[1] See ‘The Art Exhibition at the Public Library’, in The Australian News for Home Readers, Melbourne, Wednesday 25 January 1865, p. 11, accessed http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article63170882; and also ‘The Victorian Art Exhibition’, in The Argus, Melbourne, Tuesday 27 December 1864, p 5–6, accessed http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5740667
[2] Reattributed, from Reynolds, to George Romney shortly after its acquisition by the Gallery. Reattributed in 1868 following examination under microscope 1868 to William Beechey. See under ‘Monday 18 May 1868’ in The Argus, Melbourne, Monday 18 May 1868, p. 5, accessed http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page221268
Exhibited: Fine Arts Exhibition, Collins St, Melbourne, 1861, no. 37 as Portrait of Lady Hamilton, by Joshua Reynolds; Melbourne Public Library and Picture Gallery, 1864–65, lent by Mr Grundy, as by Joshua Reynolds; possibly Fine Arts Gallery (Compartment 10), Intercolonial Exhibition, Melbourne, 1866, no. 310 as Portrait of a Lady by Unknown.