Portrait of John Greenwood [junior]

Though unfinished, William Beechey's portrait of John Greenwood has all the characteristics of the artist's straightforward style. The subject was the son of the artist John Greenwood, who commissioned John Singleton Copley's portrait <em>Mrs Humphrey Devereux</em> (Te Papa 1965-0013-1). It is presented witout embellishments against a plain background. There is an imaginative aspect to the portrait evinced by the wistful, averted gaze of the subject, underlined by the carefully layered folds of the creamy stock and collar that support the head. The young man's unkempt and wispy hair adds further poetic overtones to Beechey's presentation.

The 1790s was an important decade for Beechey and stylistically the pinnacle of his career. So it is disappointing that while the facial features, the eyes and the stock have been well painted, the rest of the portrait is largely unfinished. There could be several reasons for this. In 1793 Beechey was appointed as official portraitist to Queen Charlotte, and in 1798 he was knighted and made a full Royal Academician.

Beechey was undoubtedly engaged on more important commissions, and reserved his more elaborate and finished style for his portraits of the royal family. Full- or three-quarter-length portraits were more favoured and more successful at Royal Academy exhibitions. Greenwood was at this time having financial difficulties with the art dealership he had taken over after the death of his father, and may not have been able to pay for the portrait to be completed.

Together with his rivals Thomas Lawrence and John Hoppner, who were both also portraitists at court, Beechey was a major figure in this great age of portrait painting. Though his work was considered pedestrian compared to that of Hoppner and Lawrence, he nevertheless maintained his position at court and was principal portrait painter to William IV until he retired in 1836. Even in its unfinished state, <em>Portrait of John Greenwood </em>is a compelling example of Beechey's working style.

Sourced from: Tony Mackle, 'William Beechey...', in William McAloon, <em>Art at Te Papa</em>  (Wellington: Te Papa Press, 2009), p. 45.

<strong>Text originally created for Tūrangawaewae: Art and New Zealand exhibition at Te Papa, March 2018.</strong>

A romantic young man, at large in London’s high society.

This impressive but unfinished portrait admirably conveys ‘a man of feeling’ – in the late 1700s, the term for a cultured, sensitive man.

Pictured here in his early 20s, John Greenwood was the son of a Boston-born portrait painter. After his father’s death, he took over his art dealership. His own son sailed to New Zealand in the 1840s, bringing this family heirloom with him.

He puru taitama nō te hunga whairawa o Rānana.

E whakaatu ana tēnei kōwaiwai kiritangata i tētahi tāne mate kanehe – koinā te kupu mō tētahi tāne mārire i ngā tau 1700.

Anei a John Greenwood, te tama a tētahi kaipeita kiritangata nō Pāhitana, kei te takiwā o te rua tekau ōna tau. Ka mate tōna pāpā, ka whakahaerehia e ia tana toa toi. I haere tana tama ake ki Aotearoa i ngā tau 1840. I kawea mai hoki tēnei taonga tuku iho a te whānau.