THOMAS HUDSON (BRITISH 1701-1779)

Princess Mary of Great Britain and Ireland, The Landgravine of Hesse-Kassel (1723-1772), 1730s
oil on canvas
127 x 101.7 cm (41 1/8 x 40 in.)


PROVENANCE
Dorotheum, Vienna, 13 October, 2010, lot 329
Acquired from the above by the present owner

LOT NOTES
Thomas Hudson was born in Devon, and gained renown as a portrait painter, acquiring the patronage of London society during the 1740s and 1750s. He was a pupil of the successful portrait painter Jonathan Richardson, later marrying his daughter. Among his artistic friends were William Hogarth, Allan Ramsay and Francis Hayman. Hudson retained these connections, travelling to France, Holland and Flanders with Hogarth and Hayman in 1748 and to Italy with the sculptor Louis-François Roubiliac in 1752. Hudson began to receive notice in the early 1730s. Having established his own portrait-painting practice, by 1742 Hudson was one of the most successful of the portrait painters working in London; he painted members of the royal family and abundance of Persons of Quality. The subject of the present work is traditionally held to be Princess Mary of Great Britain and Ireland, who was the second-youngest daughter of King George II and Caroline of Ansbach, daughter of Johann Friedrich, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach. Prof. Brian Allan of the Paul Mellon Institute of English Art, previously dated this work to the period around 1730.

It is known that Hudson employed drapery painters to assist him. As Ms. Sarah Moulden of the London National Portrait Gallery pointed out earlier, the drapery in the present painting might have been done by one of the drapery painters active in the workshops of Hudson or Allan Ramsay, such as Joseph van Aken.

CONDITION
Observed in frame. The painting appears in stable condition. The canvas has been relined. Rubbing resulting in loss of paint to the left edge and corner. Losses of paint to the perimeter. Overall craquelure visible to the naked eye. Not inspected under UV.

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