George IV as Prince of Wales
Gainsborough Dupont·1781
Historical Context
Gainsborough Dupont painted this portrait of George IV as Prince of Wales in 1781, when the future king was still a teenager. Dupont, Thomas Gainsborough's nephew and studio assistant, executed this work under his uncle's guidance. George IV would later become one of history's most important art collectors, assembling the magnificent Royal Collection that includes masterpieces by Van Dyck, Rembrandt, and Rubens. This early portrait captures the prince before the excesses and political controversies of his later life.
Technical Analysis
The oil-on-canvas technique shows the Gainsborough workshop style with fluid, feathery brushwork in the costume and background. The prince's young face is painted with careful attention to his fair complexion, while the overall palette maintains the cool, silvery tones characteristic of Gainsborough's manner.
Provenance
Painted for the sitter, who presented it to James, 2nd earl of Courtown [1731-1810], County Wexford [Ireland], Treasurer of the Household and Lord of the Bedchamber to the Prince of Wales;[1] by descent to James, 5th earl of Courtown [1823-1914], County Wexford. (Asher Wertheimer, London); sold September 1916 to (M. Knoedler & Co., London); sold October 196 to (Henry Reinhardt & Son, New York).[2] John N. Willys [1873-1935], Toledo, Ohio.[3] (M. Knoedler & Co., New York); purchased January 1918 by Andrew W. Mellon, Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C.;[4] deeded December 1934 to The A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, Pittsburgh; gift 1937 to NGA. [1] Georgian Papers 26791, Royal Archives, Windsor Castle, under the year 1781: "A Head of His R:H: [Royal Highness] delivered by orders to Lady Courtown" at 31 pounds, 10 shillings; one of four portrait heads of the prince by Thomas Gainsborough given to friends by the sitter. Oliver Millar brought the passage to the Gallery's attention in a letter of 11 March 1964 to John Walker, NGA director (in NGA curatorial files). [2] M. Knoedler & Co. Records, accession number 2012.M.54, Research Library, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles: Painting Stock Book 6, 1911 December-1920 July, page 130, copy in NGA curatorial files; the painting was stock number 13944. [3] Willys' name is included in a history of the painting prepared by Ross Watson, dated 18 July 1968, in NGA curatorial files. Willys was President of Willys-Overland Motors, Inc., Toledo, Ohio, and amassed a considerable art collection, part of which he later used to furnish his apartment at 820 Fifth Avenue, New York. He bought his British pictures from Agnew's and from Reinhardt & Son between 1910 and 1921; see Ralph Flint, "John N. Willys Collection," _International Studio_ 80 (February 1925), 363-374, which does not mention this painting. [4] M. Knoedler & Co. Records, accession number 2012.M.54, Research Library, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles: Painting Stock Book 6, 1911 December-1920 July, page 163, copy in NGA curatorial files; the painting was stock number 14342.
