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Caroline of Brunswick, Queen of George IV.
By Sir Thomas Lawrence P.R.A. (1769-1830)
In the Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington, London
Lawrence began his artistic career as a portraitist in crayon at the age of ten, and became a student at the Royal Academy in 1787. When he settled down to painting portraits after this, he soon had the whole world of fashion at his feet. He painted the great beauties and the talented women of his time and was rewarded with enormous fees, which he spent lavishly. In 1815 he was commissioned to paint "Victors of Waterloo" for the Windsor Gallery, and during a tour of the European capitals to paint the portraits he was received everywhere with the honours due to his eminence. Honours, indeed, showered upon him, both in Society and in the world of art, and he took rank as the pre-eminent painter of England. After his death a reaction took place, and his work from being overvalued came to be underestimated. Of later years the tendency has been for his position to find its due niche in the temple of fame, and certain of his pictures are as familiar and dear to the British public as his most ardent admirers could have wished. The truth is that a lot of his work was of the stereotyped character which is often associated with those who work by routine, and this undoubtedly led to the waning of his popularity after his death. But he produced some masterly paintings, some of which are in private collections and others in the public galleries. Such pictures of women as this, are full of an easy grace and poetic sentiment that is very charming. If his colours are sometimes monotonous, if his pictures sometimes lack naturalness and simplicity, those which are typical of his best effort will still retain their popularity because they are so essentially English both as regards their treatment and as being representative of English beauty.
From the book "Famous Paintings" printed in 1913.
Large files of this public domain print are available at Stock Photos at Songs of Praise
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Online "Name the Painting"
Sir Thomas Lawrence Paintings
at Web Gallery of Art
Thomas Lawrence
at Wikipedia
Lawrence Art Posters and Prints
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Sir James Guthrie
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In His Hand
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The Ambassadors
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Suspense
Sir Edwin Landseer
A Naughty Child
H.H. La Thangue
Mowing Bracken
Sir Thomas Lawrence
Caroline of Brunswick,
Queen of George IV.
G.D. Leslie
Sun and Moon Flowers
J. Seymour Lucas
Flirtation
Jean Louis Ernest
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The Print Collector
Jean Francois Millet
The Angelus
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His Own Portrait
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Sir Joshua Reynolds
The Strawberry Girl
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The Parson's Daughter
W. Dendy Sadler
A Good Story
W. Dendy Sadler
Friday
William Small
The Last Match
J.M. Swan
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Lioness and Cubs
J.M.W. Turner
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Body of Sir David Wilkie
J.M.W. Turner
Rain Steam and Speed
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Portrait of a Spanish Lady
"La Femme a L'Eventail"
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James McNeill Whistler
My Mother
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