James Stanley

James Stanley from 1755 by George Stubbs is an early portrait predating by eleven years the publication of his Anatomy of the Horse, which transformed both his career and his technique. In 1755 Stubbs was still an itinerant portrait painter working in the north of England, developing the observational skills and compositional confidence that would eventually make him the leading animal painter of his generation. The portrait of James Stanley demonstrates his competent figure painting at this early stage, working within the conventions of the provincial English portrait tradition. The equestrian or sporting setting, if present, situates the subject in the landscape tradition that characterized English portraiture of the period. The work is held at the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool.

The early portrait shows Stubbs developing his approach to combining human portraiture with equestrian elements.