Augustus, Duke of Sussex 1780
Oil on canvas | 92.3 x 70.8 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 403523
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West’s arrival in England from Italy in 1763 occurred at a time when artists were seeking to create a distinguished national school of history painting. George III was eager to support such a goal and was also a keen supporter of the proposal to found a national academy for the teaching and display of arts: his patronage of West and the foundation of the Royal Academy in 1768 were closely intertwined. At the King’s instruction, ‘The Departure of Regulus’ (OM 1152, 405614) was shown at the first Royal Academy exhibition in 1769; he succeeded Sir Joshua Reynolds as President of the Royal Academy in 1792. West painted around sixty pictures for George III between 1768 and 1801. From 1772 he was described in Royal Academy catalogues as ‘Historical Painter to the King’ and from 1780 he received an annual stipend from the King of £100. In the 1780s he gave drawing lessons to the Princesses and in 1791 he succeeded Richard Dalton as Surveyor of the King’s Pictures. This portrait is dated 1780 and was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1782. It is assumed to have been painted for Queen Charlotte but if so it left the collection and had to be bought back by Queen Mary in 1934. The Prince Augustus is shown leaning with on table covered with green cloth. He wears lilac suit shot with green, gold waistcoat, white ruffled shirt, in left hand large black hat; behind him is a curtain and a view of Windsor.
Provenance
In the collection of George, Duke of Cambridge; purchased by Queen Mary from the estate of his son, Sir Augustus FitzGeorge in 1934
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Medium and techniques
Oil on canvas
Measurements
92.3 x 70.8 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external)
113.3 x 93.5 x 7.2 cm (frame, external)