Portrait of Henry Pelham

Portrait of Henry Pelham
ArtistWilliam Hoare
Year1751
TypeOil on canvas, portrait painting
Dimensions127 cm × 101.6 cm (50 in × 40.0 in)
LocationNational Portrait Gallery, London

Portrait of Henry Pelham is a 1751 portrait painting by the British artist William Hoare.[1] It depicts the English Whig politician Henry Pelham who was Prime Minister from 1743 to his death in 1754.[2] He is shown at three-quarters length wearing the robes of the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Hoare was a noted portraitist based in Bath, but this picture was produced during a short-lived move to work in the capital. Back in Bath he and Thomas Gainsborough became rivals, producing portraits for the fashionable elite.[3] Today the painting is in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery in London, having been acquired in 1866. A mezzotint based on the painting was produced in 1752 by the Irish engraver Richard Houston.[4]

References

Bibliography

  • Allen, Brian. The British Portrait, 1660-1960. Antique Collectors' Club, 1991.
  • Kerslake, John. Early Georgian Portraits. National Portrait Gallery, 1977
  • Sutherland, Lucy. Politics and Finance in the Eighteenth Century. Bloomsbury Publishing, 1984.