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18th-century Britain

Works made in Britain in the 18th century.

42 works · hang 7200 ·

The rooms are imagined; every work on their walls is real.

Walk this roomRehang this room

First room, north wall

  1. This is a drawing of a bird perched on a branch. The bird is detailed and identified as "Turtur Risorius." It rests on a green textured branch against a plain background. The bird has a black ring around its neck, soft brown plumage with intricate feather patterns, and light pink legs. Its eye is prominent and outlined within its head design. The branch is minimalist with small buds and thin twigs.
    Turtur RisoriusWilliam Home LizarsCourtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. A work made of oil on canvas.
    Sir Thomas Rumbold, Bt.Joshua Reynolds, 1788Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  3. This drawing depicts multiple figures in a forest setting. An angelic figure hovers at the top with wings outstretched. The forest below is filled with intricately detailed trees. Figures on the ground are in dynamic poses, one showing surprise or fear, and another reaching upwards. The composition is detailed with flowing garments and textured foliage, evoking tension and animation.
    The Death of Saint Peter MartyrJohn Baptist Jackson, 1739Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  4. A work made of engraving in black ink with opaque and translucent watercolor on cream laid paper.
    May, from Twelve Months of FlowersHenry Fletcher, n.d.Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

First room, south wall

  1. A work made of oil on canvas.
    Mr. Quick as Vellum in Addison's DrummerSamuel De Wilde, 1792Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. The image depicts a portrait of an individual with the upper half of their body visible. The person is facing forward with their head slightly turned to the side, looking directly at the viewer. They have a fair complexion, with distinct facial features, including a rounded face and closed lips. The hair is styled in an 18th-century manner, with curls around the ears. They are wearing a dark coat with red lapels and brass buttons, over a white shirt with ruffled details. There are no visible jewelry or objects in their hands. The background is a textured, earth-toned surface.
    William PittGainsborough Dupont, 1787/1796Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  3. A work made of brush and black ink wash, with pen and black ink and opaque white and gray watercolor, on cream laid paper.
    A Hero Born on a Bier, from The Master of Giants PortfolioPrince Hoare, 1779Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  4. Portrait of Colonel Charles Heathcote, by Joseph Wright of Derby, c. 1771–72
    Portrait of Colonel Charles HeathcoteJoseph Wright of Derby, c. 1771–72Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art

Second room, south wall

  1. Portrait of the Ladies Amabel and Mary Jemima Yorke, by Joshua Reynolds, c. 1761
    Portrait of the Ladies Amabel and Mary Jemima YorkeJoshua Reynolds, c. 1761Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  2. Shown from the waist up, a young, pale-skinned woman with her gray hair piled high atop her head is lit starkly against a dark background in this vertical portrait painting. The woman’s shoulders are angled to our left. Her face is square to us, but she looks off to our right from the corners of her eyes, which are gray rimmed with golden brown around the pupils. She has a thin face, smooth cheeks, a bow-shaped pink mouth, and a narrow chin. Her hair is mostly swept up high under a bank of pearl-white feathers and some sparkling ornaments. A few ringlets hang down the back of her neck. The bodice of her white dress scoops low across her chest and sits just above her sloping shoulders. The dress is adorned with pearls on the sleeves and around the neckline, and the fabric shimmers from silvery white to pale gold. The background is earth-brown around her face and deepens to almost black in the corners.
    Mrs. Paul Cobb MethuenThomas Gainsborough, c. 1776/1777Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  3. A work made of pen and black ink, over traces of graphite, on tan wove paper, laid down on cream wove paper.
    Athena and the WindsJohn Flaxman, n.d.Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

Second room, north wall

  1. A work made of red chalk on cream laid paper.
    Self-PortraitJohn Flaxman, c. 1779Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. Lord Rothes, 1768
    Lord RothesUnrecorded British maker, 1768Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
  3. A work made of engraving in black ink with opaque and translucent watercolor on cream laid paper.
    August, from Twelve Months of FlowersHenry Fletcher, n.d.Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

Third room, north wall

  1. From a rocky shoreline, we look on several light-skinned people working by the sea with a boat and a net in this freely painted, almost square seascape. The scene is framed by a silhouette of low boulders along the lower right corner, and a towering cream-white rock rising two-thirds of the way up the composition to our left. Scrubby, celery-green vegetation grows on the rocky outcropping. Near the center, close to the towering white rocks, three people sit, reaching for something near one end of a boat while a fourth person braces against the rock, presumably to push the boat out to the sea. Closer to us, three people on the shore work with a net. Two stand with the net hooked over their shoulders, and a third person crouches in the water with head down. The people all wear simple shirts and pants in shades of tan, mustard yellow, burnt orange, and pale blue. All but two wear hats. The sea meets the shore with frothy white foam and cresting, low waves. The sea beyond fades from pale sage green to arctic blue along the horizon, which comes about a third of the way up the composition. Two sail boats tilt against the wind in the distance. Pale, smoky lavender-purple clouds drift across the ice-blue sky.
    Seashore with FishermenThomas Gainsborough, c. 1781/1782Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. Portrait of Mary Anne Jolliffe, by Gainsborough Dupont, after 1788
    Portrait of Mary Anne JolliffeGainsborough Dupont, after 1788Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art