Samuel Scott, the Marine Painter

Thomas Hudson painted this portrait of the marine painter Samuel Scott around 1732. Hudson was the leading portrait painter in London before being eclipsed by his pupil Joshua Reynolds. Scott, known as the "English Canaletto," was the finest marine and topographical painter in Georgian England. The work exemplifies Rococo's preoccupation with pleasure, elegance, and intimate scale, reflecting the taste of an aristocracy that commissioned paintings for private apartments rather than public...

Hudson renders his fellow artist with the solid, competent technique that made him the most prolific portraitist of his era. The warm palette and the informal pose create an engaging portrait of an artistic colleague.