Portrait of a Lady
Sir Thomas Lawrence, Portrait of a Lady, early 1790s. Oil paint on paper mounted on canvas; 30 × 25 in. (76.2 × 63.5 cm). Denver Art Museum: Gift of the Berger Collection Educational Trust, 2019.15
Painted when Lawrence was in his early twenties, around the time he was named painter to George III, Portrait of a Lady displays the naturalism and freshness that distinguished him from his peers and made him the most sought-after portrait painter in Europe. The sitter is unknown, though she was once thought to be Lady Cecil Hamilton, a member of a long-established Scottish noble family. Lawrence records the features of her face with dazzling precision while her hair and dress are loosely brushed and the background formed of a dusky halo of zig-zag strokes. The sketchy quality of the picture suggests that Lawrence may have intended it as a preparation for a more finished portrait, which has yet to come to light.
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