English Rococo Era Painter, 1723-1792 English painter, collector and writer. The foremost portrait painter in England in the 18th century, he transformed early Georgian portraiture by greatly enlarging its range. His poses, frequently based on the Old Masters or antique sculpture, were intended to invoke classical values and to enhance the dignity of his sitters. His rich colour, strong lighting and free handling of paint greatly influenced the generation of Thomas Lawrence and Henry Raeburn. His history and fancy pictures explored dramatic and emotional themes that became increasingly popular with both artists and collectors in the Romantic period. As first president of the Royal Academy in London, he did more than anyone to raise the status of art and artists in Britain. His Discourses on Art, delivered to the students and members of the Academy between 1769 and 1790,  Related Paintings of REYNOLDS, Sir Joshua :. | Francis Rawdon-Hastings | Mrs. Musters as Hebe f | Captain the Honourable George Edgcumbe | Portrait of Edward Boscawen | Colonel George K. H. Coussmaker, Grenadier Guards |
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Bonnat, LEon
French, 1833-1922.French portrait and historical painter. He is best known for his portraits of famous men, including Thiers, Victor Hugo, and Dumas fils. Bonnat is represented in the Metropolitan Museum.
Francis Holman
(1729-1784) was a British maritime painter, little recognised during his own lifetime, but whose paintings are now sought aftereHe is also notable as the teacher of Thomas Luny. He was born in Ramsgate and baptized on 14 November 1729 at St Laurence-in-Thanet, Ramsgate.[1] He was the eldest son and second of six children of Francis Holman (1696-1739), and his wife, Anne Long (1707-1757). His father was a master mariner, and his grandfather a Ramsgate cooper. His younger brother, Captain John Holman (1733-1816), maintained the family shipping business and remained close to Francis throughout his life. Young Francis would certainly have been immersed in the maritime world during his up-bringing; the legacy of this early knowledge is a wealth of detail and accuracy in his later work. The moonlight Battle of Cape St Vincent, 16 January 1780 by Francis Holman, painted 1780 A sixth-rate British man of war off Dover, by Francis Holman, 1777 A small shipyard on the Thames, by Francis Holman, between 1760 and 1784Francis Holman lived in at least five addresses in Wapping on the Thames in London. He married, firstly, Elizabeth, and they produced 3 sons; John (b. 1757), and two more sons, both named Francis, who died in infancy. Elizabeth's death is unrecorded, but on 7 May 1781 he married, secondly, Jane Maxted (c.1736-1790). He was apparently childless when he wrote his will in 1783.
Louis XIV s