Sir Joshua Reynolds was an English painter who specialised in portraits. John Russell said he was one of the major European painters of the 18th century. He promoted the "Grand Style" in painting, which depended on idealisation of the imperfect. He was a founder and first president of the Royal Academy of Arts and was knighted by George III in 1769.
Thomas Gainsborough was an English portrait and landscape painter, draughtsman, and printmaker. Along with his rival Sir Joshua Reynolds, he is considered one of the most important British artists of the second half of the 18th century. He painted quickly, and the works of his maturity are characterised by a light palette and easy strokes. Despite being a prolific portrait painter, Gainsborough gained greater satisfaction from his landscapes. He is credited as the originator of the 18th-century British landscape school. Gainsborough was a founding member of the Royal Academy.
Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, was an English naturalist, botanist, and patron of the natural sciences.
Sir Thomas Lawrence was an English portrait painter and the fourth president of the Royal Academy. A child prodigy, he was born in Bristol and began drawing in Devizes, where his father was an innkeeper at the Bear Hotel in the Market Square. At age ten, having moved to Bath, he was supporting his family with his pastel portraits. At 18, he went to London and soon established his reputation as a portrait painter in oils, receiving his first royal commission, a portrait of Queen Charlotte, in 1789. He stayed at the top of his profession until his death, aged 60, in 1830.
The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly in London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and appreciation of the visual arts through exhibitions, education and debate.
Benjamin West was a British-American artist who painted famous historical scenes such as The Death of Nelson, The Death of General Wolfe, the Treaty of Paris, and Benjamin Franklin Drawing Electricity from the Sky.
John Russell was an English painter renowned for his portrait work in oils and pastels, and as a writer and teacher of painting techniques.
John Raphael Smith was a British painter and mezzotinter. He was the son of Thomas Smith of Derby, the landscape painter, and father of John Rubens Smith, a painter who emigrated to the United States.
Joseph Collyer, also called Joseph Collyer the Younger, was a British engraver. He was an associate of the Royal Academy and portrait engraver to the British Queen Consort, Queen Charlotte.
Philip Metcalfe,, , was an English Tory politician, a malt distiller and a philanthropist.
Mai, known as Omai in Europe, was a young Ra'iatean man who became the second Pacific Islander to visit Europe, after Ahutoru who was brought to Paris by Bougainville in 1768.
Brigadier-General John Carnac was a British officer who served three times as Commander-in-Chief of India. The son of Capt. Peter Carnac (1665–1756), and Andrienne, née Lelonte, he was baptised in London.
George Watson was a Scottish portrait painter and the first president of the Royal Scottish Academy.
The title of Principal Painter in Ordinary to the King or Queen of England or, later, Great Britain, was awarded to a number of artists, nearly all mainly portraitists. It was different from the role of Serjeant Painter, and similar to the earlier role of "King's Painter". Other painters, for example Nicholas Hilliard had similar roles with different titles. "Principal Painter in Ordinary", first used for Sir Anthony Van Dyck, became settled as the usual title with John Riley in 1689.
Samuel William Reynolds was a mezzotint engraver, landscape painter and landscape gardener. Reynolds was a popular engraver in both Britain and France and there are over 400 examples of his work in the National Portrait Gallery, London.
Peter Toms RA was an English portrait and drapery painter, i.e. a painter specialising in depicting drapery for the works of other artists. He was a founding member of the Royal Academy. He was also the Portcullis Pursuivant at the College of Heralds.
Portrait of Mai (Omai) (also known as Portrait of Omai, Omai of the Friendly Isles or simply Omai) is an oil-on-canvas portrait of Omai, a Polynesian visitor to England, by Sir Joshua Reynolds, completed about 1776.
Robert Lovell Gwatkin (1757–1843) was an English landowner, High Sheriff of Cornwall in 1789.
Portrait of Banastre Tarleton is a 1782 portrait painting by the English artist Sir Joshua Reynolds. It depicts the British army officer Banastre Tarleton against a background scene of battle, referring to his recent service in the American War of Independence. Tarleton is shown in the uniform of the British Legion, a unit of American Loyalist cavalry which he had served with before surrendering at the Siege of Yorktown in 1781. Reynolds, President of the Royal Academy, was of the country's leading portraitists.
Portrait of Maria Fitzherbert is a 1788 portrait painting by the British artist Sir Joshua Reynolds.
