Study of a Seated Woman

1778–1810

Not on view

Hoppner became the leading portraitist working in London after Sir Joshua Reynolds retired in 1789. Early In his career, the artist often focused on literary or dramatic subjects, and the present work relates to "Clara at the Tomb of Eloisa," reproduced in mezzotint in 1786. The theme comes from Jean-Jacques Rousseau's "Julie; ou, La Nouvelle Héloïse," a novel in which the heroine, Héloïse (Eloisa), is separated from her great love Saint-Preux, and dies hoping to be united with him in heaven. The artist imagined Eloisa's close friend Clara mourning at her tomb and used his wife, Phoebe, as a model. Black and white chalks are applied in a loose, expressive manner reminiscent of Thomas Gainsborough and a romantically overgrown landscape suggested by rapidly indicated trees and hints of foliage.

Artwork Details

Title: Study of a Seated Woman
Artist: John Hoppner (British, London 1758–1810 London)
Date: 1778–1810
Medium: Black and white chalk
Dimensions: Sheet: 10 5/8 × 8 15/16 in. (27 × 22.7 cm)
Classification: Drawings
Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1908
Object Number: 08.227.5
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

By John Hoppner

In the same medium

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Stormy Landscape, John Hoppner British, Black and white chalk, gray wash, on grayish brown paper — Stormy Landscape
John Hoppner
1789 (?)

Mrs. Thomas Pechell (Charlotte Clavering, died 1841), John Hoppner British, Oil on canvas — Mrs. Thomas Pechell (Charlotte Clavering, died 1841)
John Hoppner
1799

Major Thomas Pechell (1753–1826), John Hoppner British, Oil on canvas — Major Thomas Pechell (1753–1826)
John Hoppner
1799

Portrait of a Woman; (reverse, now covered by relining canvas) Study of a Child's Head, John Hoppner British, Oil on canvas — Portrait of a Woman; (reverse, now covered by relining canvas) Study of a Child's Head
John Hoppner
1790s

Mrs. John Garden (Ann Garden, 1769–1842) and Her Children, John (1796–1854) and Ann Margaret (born 1793), John Hoppner British, Oil on canvas — Mrs. John Garden (Ann Garden, 1769–1842) and Her Children, John (1796–1854) and Ann Margaret (born 1793)
John Hoppner
1796 or 1797

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