Janet Tower Storey (Aberdeen 1756-1835), Portrait of a Woman with a Bonnet

Janet Tower Storey (Aberdeen 1756-1835) Portrait of a Woman with a Bonnet Oil on canvas, 76.5 x 64 cm The painting in question portrays an elderly woman wearing a white bonnet, whom we can identify as the artist's great-grand-aunt thanks to a cartouche on the back of the canvas specifying the subject ("great grand-aunt Storey"), the place where the painting was made ("Aberdeen", a Scottish town), and the name of the English painter, "Janet Tower Storey" (1756-1835). The provenance and dating of the painting allow us to reconstruct the context in which our artist worked and the models she had available. In addition to the evident echo of the romantic painting of Théodore Géricault (1791-1824), in particular for the ten Portraits of the Insane (painted between 1822 and 1823, today only ten are preserved at the Musée du Louvre in Paris) in which the gazes, expressions, but also the feelings of the characters are emphasized, and the lessons of artists such as Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825), Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1780-1867) and Francesco Hayez (1791-1881), interpreter of his era, scrupulous seeker of truth, of which eloquent evidence are the portraits of the intellectual aristocracy of his time, the influence of some of the major English portrait painters of the 19th century is undeniable. In fact, the portrait type, starting from the second half of the 17th century, was the genre that best suited the aspirations of the middle class, as it was advantageous both economically and for inclusion within the houses of the new bourgeoisie. Among the most renowned and sought-after portrait painters in London was Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792), who argued that although the human figure, an animal, or even an object were not noble subjects, they could acquire dignity, communicate a feeling, and produce emotions in the same way as a painting of a historical or mythological subject. His works are now preserved in various private collections, as well as at the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery in London, in the Wallace Collection, and other British galleries. Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788) was also a renowned portrait and landscape painter in England. His portraits show an extraordinary ease of composition and agility of touch, his colors, in contrast to the opaque tones used by Reynolds, with whom he competed for the city's most prestigious commissions, are clear and sparkling, the impasto very thin and of surprising depth, so much so that his brushstrokes, short and diagonal, were a "means of infinite artistic possibility" (A. Popham, 1923). Our artist, too, in the intimate portrait of her relative who stares out of the canvas, perhaps looking at her own niece as she portrays her, shows us a woman in her everyday life, without frills, dressed in dark blue, with a shawl of the same color on her shoulders and a bonnet that reflects the fashion of her time. The hint of a smile and the vivid eyes of the elderly woman give us a sense of reassuring tranquility, but at the same time make us participate in her social condition, probably belonging to the petit bourgeoisie, which led her to desire in her home a sign of this status, which can be passed down as an inheritance to posterity. With Ars Antiqua it is possible to spread all amounts up to € 5,000 at ZERO RATE, for a total of 12 INSTALLMENTS. Ex. Tot. € 4,500 = Monthly installment € 375 for 12 months. Ex. Tot. € 3,600 = Monthly installment € 720 for 5 months. For amounts exceeding € 5,000 or for a greater extension of time (over 12 installments), we can provide a personalized payment. Contact us directly to get the best quote. LIVE TV – SUNDAY 17.00 – 21.00 Dig.terr. 126 – Sky 861 - 937 – Streaming on our website www.arsantiquasrl.com and on our social media Facebook and Youtube