Signed lower left: T. Heaphy 1806
Watercolour over pencil
625 x 474 mm.,
24 ¼ x 18 ½ in.
Heaphy first exhibited portraits in oils at the
Royal Academy, however, realising that the market for oil portraits was more
competitive and that he was a highly accomplished watercolourist, he decided to
specialise in watercolours, both portraits, genre and subject pictures. He found
royal patronage and was appointed Portrait Painter to the Princess of Wales in
1803. During the Peninsular War, at the invitation of the Duke of Wellington,
Heaphy travelled to Spain to undertake portraits of the chief officers of the
British Army, including several of Wellington. On his return he produced a
monumental watercolour depicting the Duke of Wellington and about fifty of his
officers, Field Marshal the Duke of Wellington Giving Orders to his Generals
Previous to a General Action.
The present watercolour amply demonstrates Heaphy’s
careful attention to detail, his innate ability to capture not only a likeness,
but the character of the sitter as well as the delicacy of his palette.