John Russell, R.A.

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John Russell, R. A.
(British, 1745-1806)

Portrait of Mrs. La Touche (ca. 1790)

Signed 'J. Russell' (middle right)
Inscribed "Mrs. La Touche" in an old hand on verso of old mount
Pastel on Paper
21 x 16 in (53.3 x 40.6 cm) (Oval)

(in its original 18th-century hand-carved and gilded frame)

Provenance:
Bellevue House, Delgany, County Wicklow, Ireland (seat of the La Touche family from 1754); by descent in the La Touche family until ca. 1960; Capt. Luke Kerr of Dublin and London; thence by descent.

Museums and Collections:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; The Hermitage, St. Petersburg; The National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; The National Portrait Gallery, London; The Tate Gallery, London; The Fine Art Museum of San Francisco; the collections of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II; The Bowes Museum, County Durham, England; Palazzo Grassi, Venice; numerous other public and private collections.

John Russell is today known as one of England's most splendid painters and the finest pastellist England ever produced.

Russell was born at Guildford, Surrey in 1745. At a very early age, he entered the studio of Francis Cotes, R.A., from whom he received his artistic education and studied pastel painting. Cotes had studied under Rosalba Carriera who, in large part, was responsible for raising pastel painting to a par of respectability with oil painting throughout Europe.

Russell quickly surpassed his master in the art of pastels. In 1770, he entered the Royal Academy Schools, London, winning the gold medal for figure drawing. From 1770 through 1806, the year of his death, he exhibited the staggering number of 330 works at the Royal Academy. His portraits were engraved by Collyer, Turner, Heath, Dean, Bartolozzi, Trotter and other prominent engravers.

In 1790, Russell received warrants of appointment as "Crayon [pastel] Painter" to Their Majesties King George the III, Queen Charlotte, the Prince of Wales and the Duke of York. Through his monarchical connections, he developed a large and fashionable clientele.