Richard Dighton (1795-1880) - 1857 Watercolour Spritely Young Man

Description

A fine example of the costume studies by the renowned watercolourist, Richard Dighton. This painting shows a young man with rosy cheeks and a spirited smile, standing in profile in smart black overcoat, top hat and grey trousers. He wears a pink flower in his lapel and carries an attractive cane carved in a ripple shape. The painting is unsigned and presented in a simple gilt frame with card mount. There is a label at the reverse, taken from the original frame, with an inscription by the artist's hand showing the artist's signature, the name of the sitter (although this is illegible) and the date. The painting was acquired in a portfolio of other works by the artist, several of which were signed and inscribed. On wove.

Condition

The condition is typical for a picture of this age including some discolouration and minor foxing.

Size

24 x 15.6cm (9.4" x 6.1")
Framed Size: 35 x 26.2cm (13.8" x 10.3")

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Artist Biography

Richard Dighton (1795 London - 13 April 1880 London), was an English artist in the Regency period, best known for his many satirical profile portraits of contemporary London celebrities and characters. He was the son and apprentice of another noted caricaturist, Robert Dighton (1752?1814), and brother of the battle-scene painter Denis Dighton and of Robert Dighton junior. The works of Robert and Richard Dighton are regarded as predecessors of the Vanity Fair style of the late nineteenth century. His series of City and West End portraits was started in 1817, and he published more than one hundred etchings during the next decade. From 1828 on he produced no further etchings and settled and worked in Cheltenham and Worcester where he spent the next twenty years, thereafter returning to London. He concentrated firstly on watercolour portraits and after 1835 on lithograph portraits. Richard Dighton died of an 'enlarged prostate and Bright's disease' at 3 Elm Grove, Hammersmith on 13 April 1880 aged 84. His sons Richard junior and Joshua were also portraitists.