HUDSON, Thomas - b. 1701 Devonshire, d. 1779 Twickenham - WGA

HUDSON, Thomas

(b. 1701 Devonshire, d. 1779 Twickenham)

English painter and collector. He was one of the foremost portrait painters in England in the mid-18th century. His work combines the high-keyed colours of the Rococo with poses derived from such artists as van Dyck, Kneller and his own teacher and father-in-law, Jonathan Richardson. He painted at least 400 portraits, about 80 of which were engraved. Among his many pupils were Joseph Wright of Derby, John Hamilton Mortimer and Joshua Reynolds. Hudson was a member of the group of artists including Hogarth, Allan Ramsay, Francis Hayman and the sculptor John Michael Rysbrack who met at Old Slaughter’s Coffee House in the mid-1740s and who promoted Thomas Coram’s Foundling Hospital, of which they were governors, as the first public exhibiting space for artists in London.

From the mid 1740s to the mid 1550s he was the leading fashionable portraitist in London, rivalled only by Ramsay. He went into semi-retirement in the late 1750s, when his former pupil Reynolds was rapidly rising in success.

Portrait of Sir James Lowther

The painting represents Sir James Lowther, 1st Earl of Lonsdale (1736-1802) three-quarter length, holding a mask in his right hand. James Lowther was one of the richest commoners in Britain. He wielded enormous political power, returning nine members to the House of Commons, including William Pitt.

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Portrait of a Gentleman

The painting represents a three-quarter length portrait of a gentleman dressed in a white waistcoat trimmed in gold and brown surcoat, sitting in a green upholstered giltwood chair by a giltwood console table.

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Portrait of a Lady

The sitter, who is said to be a certain Mrs. Fryer, is portrayed three quarter length, standing, wearing a blue and white satin gown with lace collar and holding a feather fan.

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Portrait of a Lady in Van Dyck Dress

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Portrait of a Lawyer

The painting represents a three quarter length portrait of a lawyer sitting at a giltwood console table in an interior, with law-books and papers before him.

Thomas Hudson was by far the leading portrait painter in London for two decades in the middle years of the 18th century. He had arrived in London in the 1720s after the death of Sir Godfrey Kneller, who had dominated London society portraiture for decades. His portrait practice by 1740 was substantial and highly successful, and numerous paintings by him survive. He continued the tradition of Van Dyck and Lely, and maintained a large studio with numerous talented young artists whom he taught: Henry Pickering, Joseph Wright of Derby, Sir Joshua Reynolds and others. He usually employed Joseph Van Aken as his drapery painter, and the consequence is that many of the works of these artists in these two decades are often difficult to distinguish one from another.

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