Miss Mary Linwood, Artist in Needlework

Hoppner's Miss Mary Linwood, Artist in Needlework, from around 1800 depicts a remarkable figure in British cultural life — a woman who achieved extraordinary fame and commercial success through the creation of large needlework copies of Old Master paintings. Linwood exhibited her needlework gallery in Leicester Square for nearly fifty years and was received at courts across Europe, her work acquired by Catherine the Great among other royal collectors. Hoppner's portrait of Linwood is one of the more unusual commissions in his career, depicting a female artist-craftsperson whose medium was radically different from painting but whose cultural ambitions — to reproduce the masterpieces of Western painting — were analogous to his own practice.

Hoppner renders the sitter with his characteristic warm palette and fluid brushwork. The portrait conveys the intelligence and creative energy of the needlework artist through direct, sympathetic characterization. The technique is confident and fluid, with luminous flesh tones and elegant, understated composition.