Johan Zoffany, portrait painter of high society by Amanda Vickery details the artist's life as a painter of genteel society. Ms Vickery also portrays him as a player in the world art market.
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| Sir Lawrence Dundas with his Grandson, 1769-70, Zoffany |
While Ms. Vickery asserts that "Posterity had little interest in the glossy productions of Zoffany, rated in the artistic second division and a wandering German to boot", she points out the strength of his talent - that of depicting all strata of 18th century life, from beggars to queens.
"...historians have long been fascinated by Zoffany's subject matter, the intimacies of affluent domestic life and the personnel and workings of key Georgian institutions – the monarchy, the court, clubs, the theatre and the nascent British empire in India."
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| 'The Gore family with George, Third Earl Cowper', c. 1775, Zoffany |
The exhibit,
Johan Zoffany RA: Society Observed, a collaboration between the Royal Academy and the Yale Center for British Art, will be shown at the Royal Academy, London, starting 10 March 2012
until 10 June 2012.
