John Hoppner

John Hoppner painted the fashionable faces of Georgian London. His portraits have warm, rich colour and a loose, flowing touch, and he was at his best with women and children, painted in soft light against misty landscape backgrounds.

He was born in Whitechapel to German parents, sang as a boy chorister in the royal chapel and entered the Royal Academy Schools in 1775, winning its gold medal for history painting in 1782. George III took an interest in his career, and the Prince of Wales became a frequent sitter and patron. For years Hoppner and Thomas Lawrence were the two leading portrait painters in London. His sitters included Nelson, Walter Scott and the Duke of Wellington, and many of his portraits remain in the Royal Collection.

In portraits such as Captain George Porter, look at how he builds the face with care and lets the clothes and background stay free and sketchy.