But was he... Fred? - photographs by Horst

 

*

Some of the titles of the photographs in this series refer to the subject as merely a "handsome blond man," while others are specifically titled "portrait of Fred." They are also variously dated, from a firm 1932 to a vague "circa 1940." Why so much confusion when, clearly, all seven were taken during the same session? Even the top auction houses disagree about the titles and date. So, I guess we'll just have to say that they're lovely photographs of a lovely young man, whenever it was that the camera was blessed with his presence, and leave it at that.

"The way she shimmers" - a portrait of Elizabeth Farren by Sir Thomas Lawrence, circa 1790

 

I've always loved this painting, the way she shimmers. The whole painting does, really. Her satin cloak, certainly, but also throughout the landscape, brilliant silver tracing and breaking through. All of it matched by - or is it merely reflecting? - the energy and wit of the young woman's bright, smiling glance.

*

Elizabeth Farren (circa 1759, Cork, Ireland - 23 April 1829, Knowsley Hall, England), Irish actress. She was the daughter of a surgeon, later an actor, whose drinking habits brought on his early death, after which his widow returned to her native Liverpool, going on the stage to support the family. At a very early age, Farren began taking on juvenile parts, acting with her mother and sisters; her sister Margaret Farren also became a well-known actress. She made her first appearance in London at the Haymarket in 1777, playing Miss Hardcastle in She Stoops to Conquer. The following year, she made her debut at Drury Lane. She performed primarily at that theater or at the Haymarket for the rest of her stage career, with occasional performances in the provinces and at Covent Garden. She would go on to have over one hundred characters in her repertoire. These included Shakespeare's Hermione, Portia, Olivia, and Juliet but, apparently, the comedic roles such as Lady Betty Modish, Lady Townly, Lady Fanciful, and Lady Teazle were her favorites. In an age when actresses were thought no better than prostitutes - indeed, not a few took to that profession as a sideline, though more politely called "courtesans" - Farren made an impressive career change when, in 1797, she married, as his second wife, Edward Smith-Stanley, 12th Earl of Derby. Her husband reportedly treated her with great respect. The couple had a daughter, Lady Mary Margaret Stanley, who would marry Thomas Egerton, 2nd Earl of Wilton. Elizabeth Farren, Countess of Derby, died in her seventieth year at the ancestral home of the Stanley family - the Earls of Derby - Knowsley Hall, her husband following five years later. 

Farren's retirement from the stage had been much regretted. Horace Walpole spoke of her as the most perfect actress he had ever seen, and the great Mrs. Siddons, on the day of Farren's marriage, lamented the loss of "our comic muse."

Glorious clutter - still-lifes by Pieter Gerritsz van Roestraten

 

Roestraten's still-lifes fall within the Dutch pronkstilleven - "ostentatious still-life" - tradition, in which luxurious objects are arranged in an often seemingly random, frequently overladen, composition, with the intention of demonstrating the artist's skill in representing a rich variety of surface textures. 

Since the titles of these paintings are almost without exception merely descriptive - Still-life with Candlestick, Chinese Porcelain Cups and a Bowl, Silver Lidded Jar, Musical Instruments, etc., etc. - I haven't bothered to label them. Likewise, I didn't even begin to attempt the doubtless futile task of ascribing a date to each piece. But they can be dated between 1666, when the artist arrived in London, and his death in 1700.

*

Details.

*

Pieter Gerritsz van Roestraten (21 April 1630, Haarlem - 10 July 1700, London), Dutch painter best known for still-lifes, he also painted genre scenes and portraits. Beginning in his hometown of Haarlem, he was a student of Frans Hals for at least five years, from 1649. He moved to Amsterdam two years later, and in 1654 he married a daughter of Frans Hals, Adriaentje, who was six year his senior. He and his wife lived in Amsterdam before moving to London in 1666. That same year he suffered a hip injury during the Great Fire of London, which caused him to walk with a limp for the rest of his life. Van Roestraten was likely introduced to king Charles II by Sir Peter Lely on the condition that he paint no portraits, thus avoiding competition for the court painter. He focused, then, on still-life painting and was quite successful. He lived on the south side of King's Street, putting him in close proximity to the Palace of Whitehall and to the studios of other artists, including Peter Lely and John Michael Wright. When his first wife died he remarried a younger wife by the name of Clara, but died soon afterwards, at the age of seventy. He is buried in St. Paul's Cathedral.

To the sky - posthumous portrait of Richard Pierrepont Lounsbery Perry by John St. Helier Lander, 1931

 

Richard Pierrepont Lounsbery Perry (26 Nov 1906, New York City - 26 May 1929, New Jersey). 

*

John St Helier Lander (19 October 1868, Jersey - 12 February 1944, Witley, Surrey), British portrait painter. Born John Helier Lander, he added the "St." to acknowledge his birthplace of Saint Helier in the Channel Islands. At the age of seventeen he went to London to study art. A year later, he met Sir John Everett Millais - a fellow Jerseyman - who advised him to continue his artistic studies in Paris. There, he studied at the Académie Julian under William-Adolphe Bouguereau. But after a year, he returned to London and entered the Royal Academy Schools. He remained there for three years and then returned to Jersey to set up his own studio. He became something of a protégé of the Lieutenant-Governor of Jersey, Major General Henry Richard Abadie; when the latter returned to London, Lander followed. Through Abadie, the artist made the acquaintance of the leading British generals in the lead up to the First World War. Those connections provided him with steady work during the war and brought his name to the public's attention. In 1923 he received a silver medal at the Paris Salon and also painted the first of his important royal portraits, subject matter which would occupy much of the remainder of his career.