Beschreibung:

SIR THOMAS LAWRENCE, P.R.A. (1769-1830) Portrait of H.R.H. Prince Frederick Augustus, Duke of York (1763-1827) Oil on canvas 90 x 69cm (35¼ x 27 in.) 1821-2 Provenance: By descent from the sitter to his brother, H. R. H. Prince Adolphus, 1st Duke of Cambridge (1774-1850) By descent to his son, H. R. H. Prince George, 2nd Duke of Cambridge (1819-1904) Sold by order of his executors, London, Christie's, 11 June 1904, lot 96, to Garrick for 45 gns. Mrs V. Bruce, by 1931 Diana, Lady Aubrey Fletcher By whom sold, London, Sotheby's, 17 March 1971, lot 78, to Marshall Spink First National Bank of Chicago. By whom anonymously sold, London, Sotheby's, 25 November 2004, lot 57, where purchase bny the present owner Exhibitions: London, Royal Academy 1822, no. 73 Literature: R. Sunderland Gower, Sir Thomas Lawrence, London 1900, p. 170 (with incorrect provenance) W. Armstrong, Lawrence, London 1913, p. 173 K. Garlick, Sir Thomas Lawrence, London 1954, p. 64 (as untraced) K. Garlick, 'A catalogue of the paintings, drawings and pastels of Sir Thomas Lawrence', in Walpole Society, vol. XXXIX, Glasgow 1964, p. 205, no. 4(iv) K. Garlick, Sir Thomas Lawrence, A complete catalogue of the oil paintings, Oxford 1989, p. 290, no. 858(c), reproduced via an engraving Engraved: Line, G. T. Doo, 1824 Prince Frederick was the second and favourite son of King George III and Queen Charlotte, and brother and lifelong close companion of his elder brother, the Prince of Wales, later Prince Regent, and subsequently King George IV. From an early age the duke was chosen for a military career. In 1793 York was promoted General and sent to Flanders in command of the British contingent of Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld's army during the Flanders campaign of the French Revolutionary Wars. In 1799 Frederick again received a field command when he was appointed supreme commander of the Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland. Frederick's experience in the Dutch and Flemish wars highlighted the consequences upon the British army of years of neglect. As Commander-in-Chief he pushed through a programme of reform largely responsible for the effectiveness of the British forces serving in the Peninsula War. In the opinion of Sir John Fortescue (1859-1933), Frederick did 'more for the army than any one man has done for it in the whole of its history.' A number of versions of this portrait are recorded by Kenneth Garlick who considers this to be the prime autograph Lawrence. The portrait would have likely been commissioned directly by Prince Frederick; his brother, H. R. H. Prince Adolphus, 1st Duke of Cambridge (1774-1850), directly inheriting it from him. That this portrait is superior upon stylistic grounds is also readily evinced upon comparison. Sir Thomas Lawrence was the most fashionable and also the greatest portraitist of his generation, not only in Britain but also in Europe where tsars and popes sat for him. He was made Principal Painter to George III in 1792 after Sir Joshua Reynolds's death. After 1814 he received a slew of commissions by Prince Frederick's brother, George IV, culminating in The Waterloo Chamber at Windsor Castle. Lawrence was knighted in 1815. Prior to the present portrait, Lawrence had previously been commissioned by Prince Frederick for his portrait and executed two, a half-length and a full-length, which were exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1814 (no. 64) and 1816 (no. 61) respectively. The present portrait is a more informal and intimate image of the Duke however, and depicts the sitter in private dress wearing the star of the Garter pinned on a black frock coat. Given his military career, the Duke took a particular pride in his membership of the predominately marshal Order of the Bath and, despite the relative absence of decorations in the portrait, the Order's sash may be observed in the flash of bright red above his lapel, a focal point in the composition. This portrait was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1822 (no. 73) and the popular