Mrs Ann Elliott (d.c.1853?)

Mrs Ann Elliott, painted by Opie in 1800 and now at Sudley House in Liverpool, was one of the many middle-class women whose portraits Opie made throughout his career. Sudley House is the former home of Liverpool shipping merchant George Holt, whose art collection — strong in Victorian and late Georgian painting — was bequeathed to the city. The 1800 date places this at the turn of the century, when Opie was at the height of his reputation and influence. Mrs Elliott, who may have died around 1853, was therefore in her middle years at the time of painting — probably in her thirties or forties. Opie's portraits of women of this class show his mature technique applied with the directness he brought to all his subjects, avoiding both flattery and severity in favour of honest individual characterisation.

Opie's early nineteenth-century female portraits reflect the changing fashions of the Regency era — lighter fabrics, more natural silhouettes — while maintaining his characteristic sculptural modelling of the face. The contrast between the delicate fabrics of Regency dress and Opie's bold, decisive brushwork creates an interesting tension that is one of the distinctive qualities of his late work.