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Lot Essay
When Sir Thomas Lawrence painted this dashing portrait of David Markham, around 1793, his position as the pre-eminent painter in London was firmly established. He had recently been appointed Painter-in-Ordinary to George III, following the death of Sir Joshua Reynolds in 1792.Though only in his early twenties, he had already met with tremendous success and public acclaim due to his masterful brushwork and unconventional approach to portraiture. These qualities are evident in works such as his full-length portraits of Queen Charlotte (The National Gallery, London, inv. no. NG4257) and Elizabeth Farren, later Countess of Derby (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, inv. no. 50.135.5). Lawrence’s portrait of David Markham stands out from much of his artistic production of this period as a fine example of his military portraits. Military portraiture would become an important source of patronage for Lawrence later in his career, anchored by his 1812 masterpiece depicting Charles William Stewart, later 3rd Marquess of Londonderry (National Portrait Gallery, London, inv. no. NPG 6171) and his celebrated series of portraits of leading figures for the Waterloo Chamber at Windsor Castle, including Field-Marshall Blücher; Charles, Archduke of Austria; Charles Philip, Prince of Schwarzenberg, and the Duke of Wellington (in situ).
Lawrence's portrait of David Markham already displays the hallmarks of these heroic works. The thick impasto of the sitter’s gold buttons and epaulettes is testament to the artist’s bravura style. Markham stands before burning fortifications, his head silhouetted against a smoke-blackened sky. Lawrence contrasts this dramatic background with the calm, relaxed attitude of his sitter. The son of the Archbishop of York, William Markham, David joined the army shortly after beginning his studies at Christ Church College, Oxford. In 1791, he led the attack on the fort of Bangalore under Lord Cornwallis and was severely wounded in the ensuing battle. The events of the doomed attempt to breach the stronghold’s walls on the night of March 21, 1791, are described in his family biography: `The ladders were planted, and Captain Markham was of course the first who mounted; but, as is usual in desperate cases of this nature, he paid dearly for his bravery; for no sooner did his hat appear above the rampart than a well-aimed volley of musketry was discharged, which disabled a great many men, and among others, the leader of the party received a shot in the head, which carried away part of his skull and his right ear’ (Rev. D.F. Markham, A History of the Markham Family, London, 1854, pp. 75-76). Despite suffering a total loss of hearing on his right side, thanks to a remarkably strong constitution, Markham rapidly recovered and returned to active duty soon thereafter, only to suffer another grave wound to his thigh. This last injury ultimately required him to return home to England, where he was promoted to the rank of Major in 1793. It was presumably during this time in England that the present portrait was painted by Lawrence, along with one of his brother, Captain (later Admiral) John Markham, a naval officer (New Haven, Yale Center for British Art).
In the same year, Markham was sent to Haiti as Colonel of the 20th Regiment, where he led a small British force to capture the city of San Domingo. The British suffered considerable losses in the process and on 25 March 1795, Markham was killed by cannon fire. His troops, however, went on to capture the city. Upon his death, Brigadier-General Horneck said he `lived universally respected and beloved, and died, leaving a bright example of military, social, and private virtue’ (M. Rainsford, An Historical Account of the Black Empire of Hayti, P. Youngquist and G. Pierrot eds., Durham and London, 2013, p. 126).
Lawrence moved to London in 1787, aged 18, where his prodigious talent was soon recognised and his career took off. Until then, Lawrence had worked predominantly in pastel, but from the moment he arrived in London he turned his attention almost exclusively to painting in oil, mastering the medium with extraordinary speed. In a letter to his mother in 1788, he displayed full confidence in his abilities, commenting at this early stage that 'excepting Sir Joshua, for the painting of a head, I would risk my reputation with any painter in London' (J. Timbs, Anecdote Biography, London, 1860, p. 234). Lawrence first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1788, and his rapid success was reflected in the summons he received to paint Queen Charlotte at Windsor Castle in September 1789, an unprecedented commission for a twenty-year-old artist. The Royal Academy exhibition of 1790, in which he exhibited not only his remarkable full-length Portrait of Queen Charlotte (National Gallery, London), but also his celebrated full-length Portrait of Elizabeth Farren (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York), was to seal his reputation. After Reynolds’ death in 1792, no other artist in London could compete with him: Gainsborough had died in 1788, Romney was on the brink of mental collapse, and Hoppner's portraits lacked the vitality and invention that characterised the younger artist's work. Lawrence was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1791, was chosen to succeed Reynolds as Painter to the Dilettanti Society, and was appointed Painter-in-Ordinary to the King. His precocious talent was fully recognised with his election as a full member of the Royal Academy in 1794, at the youngest permitted age of twenty-five.
Lawrence's emergence also represented a new dawn in British portraiture. The nature of his artistic vision was profoundly different from that of Reynolds, and very much the product of what Sir Michael Levey described as his 'own highly charged genius'. This contrast was apparent at the Royal Academy exhibition of 1790, where Lawrence's full-lengths of Queen Charlotte and Elizabeth Farren, which so astonished the London art world, could be compared directly with Sir Joshua's full-length of Mrs. Billington as Saint Cecilia. As Kenneth Garlick commented, Reynolds' Portrait of Lady Billington was 'the traditional, academic rendering, the assertion by Reynolds of his learning and his wisdom at the end of his career', while Lawrence's portraits represented 'a confident statement by a young man just beginning, something new, less learned, less well-bred, perhaps just slightly brash, but amazingly clever' (op. cit., p. 16).
Lawrence's portrait of David Markham already displays the hallmarks of these heroic works. The thick impasto of the sitter’s gold buttons and epaulettes is testament to the artist’s bravura style. Markham stands before burning fortifications, his head silhouetted against a smoke-blackened sky. Lawrence contrasts this dramatic background with the calm, relaxed attitude of his sitter. The son of the Archbishop of York, William Markham, David joined the army shortly after beginning his studies at Christ Church College, Oxford. In 1791, he led the attack on the fort of Bangalore under Lord Cornwallis and was severely wounded in the ensuing battle. The events of the doomed attempt to breach the stronghold’s walls on the night of March 21, 1791, are described in his family biography: `The ladders were planted, and Captain Markham was of course the first who mounted; but, as is usual in desperate cases of this nature, he paid dearly for his bravery; for no sooner did his hat appear above the rampart than a well-aimed volley of musketry was discharged, which disabled a great many men, and among others, the leader of the party received a shot in the head, which carried away part of his skull and his right ear’ (Rev. D.F. Markham, A History of the Markham Family, London, 1854, pp. 75-76). Despite suffering a total loss of hearing on his right side, thanks to a remarkably strong constitution, Markham rapidly recovered and returned to active duty soon thereafter, only to suffer another grave wound to his thigh. This last injury ultimately required him to return home to England, where he was promoted to the rank of Major in 1793. It was presumably during this time in England that the present portrait was painted by Lawrence, along with one of his brother, Captain (later Admiral) John Markham, a naval officer (New Haven, Yale Center for British Art).
In the same year, Markham was sent to Haiti as Colonel of the 20th Regiment, where he led a small British force to capture the city of San Domingo. The British suffered considerable losses in the process and on 25 March 1795, Markham was killed by cannon fire. His troops, however, went on to capture the city. Upon his death, Brigadier-General Horneck said he `lived universally respected and beloved, and died, leaving a bright example of military, social, and private virtue’ (M. Rainsford, An Historical Account of the Black Empire of Hayti, P. Youngquist and G. Pierrot eds., Durham and London, 2013, p. 126).
Lawrence moved to London in 1787, aged 18, where his prodigious talent was soon recognised and his career took off. Until then, Lawrence had worked predominantly in pastel, but from the moment he arrived in London he turned his attention almost exclusively to painting in oil, mastering the medium with extraordinary speed. In a letter to his mother in 1788, he displayed full confidence in his abilities, commenting at this early stage that 'excepting Sir Joshua, for the painting of a head, I would risk my reputation with any painter in London' (J. Timbs, Anecdote Biography, London, 1860, p. 234). Lawrence first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1788, and his rapid success was reflected in the summons he received to paint Queen Charlotte at Windsor Castle in September 1789, an unprecedented commission for a twenty-year-old artist. The Royal Academy exhibition of 1790, in which he exhibited not only his remarkable full-length Portrait of Queen Charlotte (National Gallery, London), but also his celebrated full-length Portrait of Elizabeth Farren (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York), was to seal his reputation. After Reynolds’ death in 1792, no other artist in London could compete with him: Gainsborough had died in 1788, Romney was on the brink of mental collapse, and Hoppner's portraits lacked the vitality and invention that characterised the younger artist's work. Lawrence was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1791, was chosen to succeed Reynolds as Painter to the Dilettanti Society, and was appointed Painter-in-Ordinary to the King. His precocious talent was fully recognised with his election as a full member of the Royal Academy in 1794, at the youngest permitted age of twenty-five.
Lawrence's emergence also represented a new dawn in British portraiture. The nature of his artistic vision was profoundly different from that of Reynolds, and very much the product of what Sir Michael Levey described as his 'own highly charged genius'. This contrast was apparent at the Royal Academy exhibition of 1790, where Lawrence's full-lengths of Queen Charlotte and Elizabeth Farren, which so astonished the London art world, could be compared directly with Sir Joshua's full-length of Mrs. Billington as Saint Cecilia. As Kenneth Garlick commented, Reynolds' Portrait of Lady Billington was 'the traditional, academic rendering, the assertion by Reynolds of his learning and his wisdom at the end of his career', while Lawrence's portraits represented 'a confident statement by a young man just beginning, something new, less learned, less well-bred, perhaps just slightly brash, but amazingly clever' (op. cit., p. 16).