Artist: Sir Tomas Lawrence. (Bristol, United Kingdom 1769 - London, United Kingdom 1830 Title: Portrait A Shakespearean ActorTechnique: Oil on wood (Labels with watermark and illegible symbol) Provenance: Important private collection. Biography: In 1789 Lawrence gained wide recognition for his portrait of the actress Miss Farren (1789, Metropolitan Museum of Art). He began to be in great demand and in 1792 he succeeded Sir Joshua Reynolds as chief painter to George III, who granted him the title of Sir in 1815. He was appointed a member of the Royal Academy in 1794, and from 1820 to 1830 he will be president of said institution. His work as a whole starts from Reynolds but takes a step further towards romanticism (he had to unfairly harsh constant criticism that compared his painting with that of Reynolds in a derogatory, unequal way). Lawrence's case is quite contradictory because he had a meteoric career, very brilliant, but constantly forced to stand up for his painting. At the time it was not understood. An artist of great style and technical mastery, he anticipated romantic painting with the vitality, rich color and dramatic silhouettes of his works. Although of uneven quality, his artistic work, at its best, was characterized by a taste and elegance that gave distinction to the portraits of his models. His paintings include: Portrait of George IV of England (1816, Pinacoteca Vaticana), Mrs. Peel (1827, Frick Collection, New York), Pope Pius VII and Archduke Charles of Austria (Waterloo Chamber, Windsor Castle, Royal Collection), John Fane, 10th Earl of Westmoreland, Lady of the Storer family and Miss Marthe Carr, all three in the Prado Museum, Madrid. Lawrence was one of the first English painters to achieve renowned success in Europe. Along with Reynolds and Thomas Gainsborough, he represents the pinnacle of English portrait painting.

This is in very good condition.