John Wollaston, Jr.

English, 1710 - 1775

BiographyJohn Wollaston, Jr., was a studio-trained portrait painter from London who worked in the American Colonies between 1749 and 1767. The son of portrait painter and musician John Wollaston, Sr. (ca. 1672-1749), Wollaston was born around 1705 and most likely received his first artistic training from his father. He appears to be active as an artist by 1725, and one can detect the influences of Sir Godfrey Kneller (1646-1723) in his extant portraits of the 1730s. By the 1740s, his coloration, brushwork, and compositions turn to the then-fashionable rococo style and show the influences of such contemporary artists as Arthur Devis (1712-1787), Joseph Highmore (1692-1780), and Bartholomew Dandridge (1691-after 1755). Although little is known about the beginning of Wollaston’s career, it has been suggested he started as a drapery painter and learned to depict realistic silks and satins under Joseph van Aken (ca. 1699-1749) or Peter Toms (d. 1777), with whom he may have apprenticed or been a journeyman. As a drapery painter, he may also have had the opportunity to work for Thomas Hudson (1701-1779) and become conversant in his style. One sees a number of similarities between the portraits of the two artists, and Wollaston could well have learned to imitate and adapt Hudson’s body poses, composition of hands, costumes and, especially, his use of the almond-shaped eyes.

In 1749 Wollaston traveled to British North America and began his colonial sojourn in New York City where he painted at least 75 portraits between 1749 and 1752. His work from this time period is characterized by painterly, if tight, brushwork, rich colors and bright, highlighted fabrics, while the poses, costumes, backgrounds and objects appear to be imaginary or borrowed from English sources. Like other artists in the 18th century, Wollaston likely owned a collection of portrait prints from which clients could select poses, dress, and backgrounds. Around 1753 Wollaston moved south, working in Philadelphia and then Annapolis, and between 1753 and 1757, he concentrated his work in Virginia and Maryland. His exact whereabouts from 1759 to 1765 are unknown, but it seems likely that he travelled to the British West Indies before returning to Charleston, South Carolina, in 1765, where he remained for his final two years in the colonies. His portraits from the 1760s reflect an awareness of the latest portrait fashions emanating from London as demonstrated by new poses and the depiction of more elaborate dress, jewelry, and accoutrements. Wollaston returned to England in 1767 and settled in Bath. The last known record of his life is from 1775, although his final years and death are undocumented.

In the four types of portraits Wollaston executed (bust-length with no hands included; half-length with hands; three-quarter-length seated, and sometimes standing; and groups), he relied on a formula of poses, hand placements, and costumes that tend to render his sitters less individualistic even as this technique may have allowed Wollaston to produce portraits more rapidly. His most accomplished portraits are the three-quarter length in which he enlivened the backgrounds with landscapes, architectural details, or interior furnishings. As one of the first highly-skilled, studio-trained portraitists to travel and work widely in the colonies, he had a profound impact on the arts in America and inspired a generation of painters in the colonies (e.g., John Hesselius, Benjamin West, Robert Feke, Jeremiah Theus) to adapt his style or pursue additional training in England and Europe. With over 300 portraits attributed to his hand, Wollaston left an impressive visual record of the gentry families of Colonial North America, artistically and metaphorically presenting them with the tools of genteel self-fashioning.

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