# Elizabeth Farren (born about 1759, died 1829), Later Countess of Derby

**Thomas Lawrence** (English, 1769–1830)  
1790  
Oil on canvas  
94 in. × 57 1/2 in. (238.8 × 146.1 cm)

Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 50.135.5. [The museum's record](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436851).

## About this work

The celebrated comic actress Elizabeth Farren turns to look at us as she walks through a windswept landscape, wrapped in a white silk cloak lined with fur and carrying a muff. Thomas Lawrence, then only twenty-one, showed the portrait at the Royal Academy in 1790, where its brilliance and freshness caused a sensation and marked him as the heir to Reynolds. The actress later married the Earl of Derby. The quick, sparkling brushwork of the silk and the airy landscape give the image its vivacity.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

Thomas Lawrence painted this in 1790, aged 21. It is now at The Met in New York.

### How it was made

- **Oil paint.** Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.

### [Thomas Lawrence](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/thomas-lawrence)

English, 1769–1830; born in Bristol; died in London

Lawrence was a child prodigy in pastel portraiture and largely self-taught. He moved to London as a teenager, exhibited a full-length of Queen Charlotte at the Royal Academy at twenty-one, and succeeded Joshua Reynolds as Painter in Ordinary to George III. After 1815 the Prince Regent commissioned him to paint the leaders of the alliance against Napoleon for the Waterloo Chamber at Windsor Castle. He became President of the Royal Academy in 1820 and was the leading portraitist of his day.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Paintings
- The artist was 21
- Real size: about 94 × 58 in (239 × 146 cm). The original is larger than our largest print, 18 × 24 in, so every print is a reduction.
- Century: 18th century
- Subjects: Portraits, Women
- Colour: olive
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1113.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/1113/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/elizabeth-farren-born-about-1759-died-1829-later-countess-of-met-436851).