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拍品专文
William Dobson was described by his contemporary, John Aubrey, as 'the most excellent painter that England hath yet bred' ('Brief Lives', chiefly of Contemporaries, set down by John Aubrey, ed. Andrew Clark, 1898, I, p. 78). Almost the whole of his known output of less than one hundred works can be dated to between circa 1641, the year of Van Dyck's death, and his own death in 1646. The present picture can be placed at the very end of the artist's career, perhaps the last few months of his life, and comparative evidence would suggest that it may be his last self-portrait.
By March 1643 Dobson had joined King Charles I and his Court in Oxford as the unofficial Principal Painter to the King. He was given a cramped studio 'in the High Street almost over against St. Mary's Church'. Notwithstanding the difficulties of working in a city under siege, Dobson was much in demand and painted a number of key works during this time, even if they lack the Baroque splendour of earlier works such as Portrait of King Charles II, as Prince of Wales (Scottish National Portrait Gallery) and Portrait of John, 1st Lord Byron (University of Manchester, Tabley Collection). In Oxford he painted the quintessential portrait of the doomed monarch at war Portrait of King Charles I, bust-length (sold in these Rooms, 17 November 1989, lot 42, £150,000) where the dry pigment, coarse and enlarged canvas highlights the working difficulties for the artist.
By 1645 Parliamentary forces were closing in on Oxford and Dobson's work became noticeably less finished and in some instances more melancholy and monochrome (Portrait of a Woman, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery). An exception to this is his late masterpiece Portrait of the Artist with Nicholas Lanier and Sir Charles Cotterell (the Duke of Northumberland). By analogy with the Self-Portrait, bust-length of circa 1642-3 (the Earl of Jersey) the central figure of Dobson, and thus the Northumberland Group as a whole, can be dated to circa 1645. The present picture would appear to date from either the last few months of Dobson's period in Oxford or his remaining four or five month in London. The King slipped out of Oxford in disguise on 27 April 1646 and it is believed that many of the Royalists, including Dobson, were able to leave the city discreetly between that date and the fall of the City to Parliament over a month later. Once back in London little is known of his activities. On 5 August he was nominated to serve as Steward of the Painters-Stainers Company, but on 28 October 1646 his burial is recorded in the register of St. Martin-in-the-Fields.
The proposed identification of the sitter, in the present picture, as William Dobson is further strengthened by comparison with the etching Portrait of William Dobson produced by Josias English in circa 1650, itself based on the central head in the Northumberland group portrait.
George Vertue recorded the present picture in the collection of John, 1st Earl Poullett, K.G. (d. 1743) in his diaries: 'a head of Dobson the Painter (by himself).in Posès of the Earl Paulet (sic).the hands finisht by Mr. Gibson'. It would seem that Poulett, a known patron of Gibson (c. 1680-1751) had the unfinished lower edges of the painting overpainted. Subsequent cleaning of the picture has removed the overpaint and restored the picture to its original and unfinished state.
We are grateful to Dr. Malcolm Rogers for confirming that, in his opinion, this portrait is by Dobson.
By March 1643 Dobson had joined King Charles I and his Court in Oxford as the unofficial Principal Painter to the King. He was given a cramped studio 'in the High Street almost over against St. Mary's Church'. Notwithstanding the difficulties of working in a city under siege, Dobson was much in demand and painted a number of key works during this time, even if they lack the Baroque splendour of earlier works such as Portrait of King Charles II, as Prince of Wales (Scottish National Portrait Gallery) and Portrait of John, 1st Lord Byron (University of Manchester, Tabley Collection). In Oxford he painted the quintessential portrait of the doomed monarch at war Portrait of King Charles I, bust-length (sold in these Rooms, 17 November 1989, lot 42, £150,000) where the dry pigment, coarse and enlarged canvas highlights the working difficulties for the artist.
By 1645 Parliamentary forces were closing in on Oxford and Dobson's work became noticeably less finished and in some instances more melancholy and monochrome (Portrait of a Woman, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery). An exception to this is his late masterpiece Portrait of the Artist with Nicholas Lanier and Sir Charles Cotterell (the Duke of Northumberland). By analogy with the Self-Portrait, bust-length of circa 1642-3 (the Earl of Jersey) the central figure of Dobson, and thus the Northumberland Group as a whole, can be dated to circa 1645. The present picture would appear to date from either the last few months of Dobson's period in Oxford or his remaining four or five month in London. The King slipped out of Oxford in disguise on 27 April 1646 and it is believed that many of the Royalists, including Dobson, were able to leave the city discreetly between that date and the fall of the City to Parliament over a month later. Once back in London little is known of his activities. On 5 August he was nominated to serve as Steward of the Painters-Stainers Company, but on 28 October 1646 his burial is recorded in the register of St. Martin-in-the-Fields.
The proposed identification of the sitter, in the present picture, as William Dobson is further strengthened by comparison with the etching Portrait of William Dobson produced by Josias English in circa 1650, itself based on the central head in the Northumberland group portrait.
George Vertue recorded the present picture in the collection of John, 1st Earl Poullett, K.G. (d. 1743) in his diaries: 'a head of Dobson the Painter (by himself).in Posès of the Earl Paulet (sic).the hands finisht by Mr. Gibson'. It would seem that Poulett, a known patron of Gibson (c. 1680-1751) had the unfinished lower edges of the painting overpainted. Subsequent cleaning of the picture has removed the overpaint and restored the picture to its original and unfinished state.
We are grateful to Dr. Malcolm Rogers for confirming that, in his opinion, this portrait is by Dobson.