Portraitist, history painter, illustrator, author and much more was Joseph Highmore. Although his uncle was already court artist to William III of Orange, Joseph was encouraged to pursue a legal education rather than a career in painting. While studying, he attended the drawing academy with the leading portrait painter of England in the late 17th century, Sir Godfrey Kneller, and soon devoted himself entirely to painting. He married the poet Susanna Hiller and attended art schools and anatomy lectures by the famous surgeon and anatomist William Cheselden.
Highmore devoted himself to portraiture and worked in Kneller's more realistic style. He also later drew inspiration from the French rococo painters and draughtsmen Mercier and Gravelot, and from the Flemish baroque master Peter Paul Rubens. After numerous study trips, which took him to Paris to study contemporary art, among other places, he also devoted himself to history painting and biblical motifs. One of these is "Hagar and Ismael", which is now part of the art collection of the Foundling Museum in London. Also well-known is "The Angel of Mercy" (1746). The portrait shows an angel trying to stop a woman from strangling her baby by pointing to a newly built hospital - the Foundling Hospital. For this hospital Highmore worked as director and often as donor. His 12-part series "Pamela", in collaboration with engraver Guillame Benoist, shows scenes from the novel "Pamela or Rewarded Virtue" by Samuel Richardson and was divided between the National Gallery of Victoria, the Fitzwilliam Museum and the Tate Britain. He worked on these works between 1741 and 1744. A friendship with the bestselling author developed, which brought Highmore a new model, but also numerous stays in high society - the higher circles became enthusiastic about his portrait painting. His talent for drawing and his knowledge of anatomy also led him to illustrate a book on the anatomy of the human body by Cheselden. He also exhibited at the first exhibition of the Society of Artists of Great Britain. In 2017 an exhibition was held at the Foundling Museum, showing decades of Highmore's work, with a focus on the social criticism in his paintings.
Only a few years after the Society of Artists exhibition, Highmore sold a large part of his art collection (including the "Pamela" series), retired from painting and lived with his daughter and son-in-law. Now he worked mainly as an art writer and as an author of essays, pamphlets and treatises on the methods of perspective. He died in Canterbury in 1780, at the age of 87.
Portraitist, history painter, illustrator, author and much more was Joseph Highmore. Although his uncle was already court artist to William III of Orange, Joseph was encouraged to pursue a legal education rather than a career in painting. While studying, he attended the drawing academy with the leading portrait painter of England in the late 17th century, Sir Godfrey Kneller, and soon devoted himself entirely to painting. He married the poet Susanna Hiller and attended art schools and anatomy lectures by the famous surgeon and anatomist William Cheselden.
Highmore devoted himself to portraiture and worked in Kneller's more realistic style. He also later drew inspiration from the French rococo painters and draughtsmen Mercier and Gravelot, and from the Flemish baroque master Peter Paul Rubens. After numerous study trips, which took him to Paris to study contemporary art, among other places, he also devoted himself to history painting and biblical motifs. One of these is "Hagar and Ismael", which is now part of the art collection of the Foundling Museum in London. Also well-known is "The Angel of Mercy" (1746). The portrait shows an angel trying to stop a woman from strangling her baby by pointing to a newly built hospital - the Foundling Hospital. For this hospital Highmore worked as director and often as donor. His 12-part series "Pamela", in collaboration with engraver Guillame Benoist, shows scenes from the novel "Pamela or Rewarded Virtue" by Samuel Richardson and was divided between the National Gallery of Victoria, the Fitzwilliam Museum and the Tate Britain. He worked on these works between 1741 and 1744. A friendship with the bestselling author developed, which brought Highmore a new model, but also numerous stays in high society - the higher circles became enthusiastic about his portrait painting. His talent for drawing and his knowledge of anatomy also led him to illustrate a book on the anatomy of the human body by Cheselden. He also exhibited at the first exhibition of the Society of Artists of Great Britain. In 2017 an exhibition was held at the Foundling Museum, showing decades of Highmore's work, with a focus on the social criticism in his paintings.
Only a few years after the Society of Artists exhibition, Highmore sold a large part of his art collection (including the "Pamela" series), retired from painting and lived with his daughter and son-in-law. Now he worked mainly as an art writer and as an author of essays, pamphlets and treatises on the methods of perspective. He died in Canterbury in 1780, at the age of 87.
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