Portrait of a Man

This portrait has a relaxed air of informality. Comfortably seated, his lips slightly parted and making direct eye contact, the sitter appears to be about to speak, leaning in to continue a conversation. The painted oval frame creates the sense of a window, adding to the man’s sense of approachability. This candour is reflected in the restrained application of paint; light, loose brushstrokes follow the sweep of the coiffured wig while the softly blended skin tones add a natural warmth. Light falls on the man’s forehead and the tip of his nose, catching a glint in his pupil that draws attention to the different colour of his eyes; his right eye brown and his left eye grey.

British painter Thomas Beach (1738–1806), has signed this portrait ‘T Beach pt./1785’ with a flourish of red paint in the left corner. This may be the Portrait of a Gentleman exhibited by Beach at the Royal Academy in London in 1785, the first year he entered the exhibition. A former pupil of Royal Academy president, Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723–92), Dorset-born Thomas Beach completed his instruction at the St Martin’s Lane Academy in London. He then moved to Bath for the ‘season’, where the influx of fashionable society provided a lucrative range of commissions that Beach fulfilled.