William IV (1765–1837)

William IV at Apsley House, painted in 1833, is a formal portrait of the penultimate Hanoverian king. Wilkie served as Painter in Ordinary to the King from 1830, producing official royal portraits alongside his celebrated genre paintings. Wilkie, knighted in 1836 and appointed Painter in Ordinary to the King in 1830, was the most celebrated Scottish painter of his generation and combined his Scottish genre roots with ambitious history painting. David Wilkie, the son of a Scottish minister who became the most celebrated genre painter in early nineteenth-century Britain, combined the observation of Scottish social life with a technical command of the Dutch and Flemish genre tradition that made his work accessible to both popular and critical audiences. His rapid rise from provincial obscurity to national celebrity following the success of Village Politicians in 1806 was one of the most dramatic artistic careers of the Regency period. His influence on subsequent British painting — on Mulready, on the young Pre-Raphaelites who admired his technical precision — was foundational, establishing the tradition of narrative genre painting that would dominate Victorian exhibition culture.

The formal portrait presents the king with appropriate regal dignity. Wilkie's careful handling captures both the individual likeness and the requirements of state portraiture.