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Notes
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This delicate pencil sketch may have been created with a view to executing a miniature in watercolour on ivory, although no miniature is known. In 1780, Ozias Humphry’s friend George Romney painted a large-scale portrait in oils of Lady Louisa, the second wife of David Murray, Viscount Stormont, who inherited Kenwood from his uncle in 1793. However, the earldom of Mansfield passed to Louisa, owing to the miss held belief at the time that a Scottish peer like Viscount Stormont could not sit in the British House of Lords. The Countess was a keen dairy woman, and it was for her that the ornamental dairy at Kenwood was constructed. She maintained a herd of English long-horn cattle on the estate and is reported to have been quite competitive with other ladies of her social circle who shared similar interests.
Devon-born Humphry showed early promise as an artist and, on the advice of Sir Joshua Reynolds, enrolled at William Shipley’s drawing academy in London before taking up an apprenticeship with the miniaturist Samuel Collins in Bath. After Collins fell into debt and fled to Dublin to avoid his creditors, Humphry set up his own practice as a miniature painter in Bath before returning to London in 1764, again on the advice of Reynolds. He quickly established a large clientele, including members of the royal family, and became acquainted with the other leading artists of the era. After damaging his eyesight in a riding accident, in 1773, Humphry embarked on a four-year visit to Italy with his friend and fellow artist George Romney. His intention was to study the Old Masters in order to allow him to transition from miniature painting to painting in oils. On his return to Britain, he dedicated himself to this new practice but with little success. After a brief period spent in India in the mid-1780s, Humphry returned to London and resumed his practice as a miniaturist. However, by 1791 his sight has deteriorated further, and he began working on a larger scale in crayons. In 1792 he was appointed portrait painter in crayons to the king, but by the end of the decade, his sight had deteriorated such that he could no longer work.
Title
Lady Louisa, Viscountess Stormont (1758–1843), later Countess of Mansfield
Date
c.1780
Medium
pencil & crayon on paper
Measurements
H 32 x W 28 cm
Accession number
88029133
Work type
Drawing
Inscription description
Inscribed 'The Lady, Viscountess Stormont, since Countess of Mansfield, wife of the Honorable Robert Greville'