WILLIAM HOARE
Eye 1707 - 1792 Bath
SOLD TO THE HOLBURNE MUSEUM OF ART, BATH
The Pitt Family
Oil on Canvas
46.5 x 55.1 in (118 x 140 cm)
Inscribed upper left: John Pitt / Marcia his wife Da. Of Marcus Antony Morgan/ & Wm. Morton Pitt their Son
Provenance
Collection of Evelyn Newby;
Sotheby's, London, 24 November 1999, lot 48;
English private collection
Literature
The British Portrait; Roy Strong, 1991, pp 185-6, illustrated p.198, colour plate 33
Exhibited at the Society of Artists, 1761
John Pitt (d.1787) is here depicted here with his wife Marcia, and their young son, William Morton Pitt (1754 – 1836), who in accordance with the customs of the day is dressed in robes which would equally befit a young girl.
John Pitt was a cousin of the famous eighteenth century Prime Minister, William Pitt the Elder, 1st Earl of Chatham (1708 – 1778). William Morton himself went on to become an M.P. in 1780, retiring over 40 years later in 1826. According to his obituary, he was “beloved of his family, esteemed by his friends, he passed through life distinguished by the possession of the purest virtues and by the exercise of a diffusive philanthropy, and extensive practical benevolence”. (1)
John Pitt inherited from his father a large plot of land on which he built the magnificent Encombe House in Dorset, which stands to this day. Begun some time after 1734, the architect of Encombe is not documented, but is thought to be John Pitt himself, who was an amateur architect. The design is in the architectural idiom of the day, the style of Vanbrugh-Hawksmoor, but also shows the influence of Palladianism. William Morton Pitt sold the house and the surrounding land in 1807, and in 1870 the 3rd Earl of Eldon commissioned Anthony Salvin to make alterations, the main one being to move the entrance from the South to the North. It seems likely that the classical portico visible to the right hand side in the present painting represents Encombe before the alterations of 1870.
Exhibited in 1761 at the Society of Artists, and formerly owned by Evelyn Newby, author of The Hoares of Bath (1986), the present painting was executed at the height of Hoare’s powers, and shortly after the arrival in Bath of his chief rival, Thomas Gainsborough. The fine draughtsmanship and clear, strong palette show the influence of Hoare’s prolonged sojourn in Italy, where he was influenced by Francesco Imperiali, Pompeo Batoni and Rosalba Carriera.
BIOGRAPHY OF WILLIAM HOARE R.A.
Eye 1707 - 1792 Bath
William Hoare was born near Eye, Suffolk, and received a gentleman’s education in Faringdon. He showed a marked aptitude for drawing and was sent to London to study under Giuseppe Grisoni, who had left Florence for London in 1715. When Grisoni returned to Italy in 1728, Hoare went with him, traveling to Rome and continuing his studies under the direction of Francesco Imperiali. He remained in Rome for nine years, returning to London in 1737/8.
Failing to establish himself in London, Hoare settled in Bath, an expanding spa town popular with the wealthier classes. He obtained numerous commissions, the most important being for official portraits of social leaders of the day (including George Frideric Handel) and political men (e.g. Prime Ministers Robert Walpole and William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, c.1754). There are several versions of most of these, suggesting that he had a studio, and they were further publicised by the production of mezzotints by leading engravers of the day. Hoare himself was a delicate etcher and published a number of private plates, mostly of family and friends, including Miss Hoare (probably Mary), Christopher Anstey and the 3rd Duke of Beaufort. His pastels were influenced by Rosalba Carriera.
William Hoare was the first fashionable portraitist to settle in Bath, and he remained as the leading portraitist there until the arrival of Thomas Gainsborough in 1759. He remained the favourite of his powerful patron the Duke of Newcastle and his family, followers and political associates. Included amongst his other important patrons were the Earls of Pembroke and Chesterfield, and the Duke of Beaufort. With Gainsborough and Joshua Reynolds he was a founding member of the Royal Academy.
Hoare was closely involved with the running of the Royal Mineral Water Hospital in Bath from 1742, and served there as Governor for a time. Chalmers described him as 'an ingenious and amiable English painter'. His son, Prince Hoare, achieved fame as a painter and dramatist.
(i) The Gentleman's Magazine, Volume V, 1836.