Even before the last brush strokes had been applied to the canvas, President Theodore Roosevelt was dissatisfied with his official White House portrait. Just the previous year, French artist Théobald Chartran (1849-1907) had painted a dignified yet casually posed portrait of First Lady Edith Roosevelt. Edith Roosevelt, First Lady of the United States; 1902 by … Continue reading Seeing and Telling
Princess of Wales
Sex, Scandals, and Caricatures
An embarrassment of riches was bequeathed to us from the paintbrushes of Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792), a founder and the first president of the Royal Academy of Arts in London. Sir Joshua Reynolds, Self-portrait c 1780© Royal Academy of Arts / Photographer: John Hammond His portraits depict every luminary who lived, loved, fought, performed, wrote, … Continue reading Sex, Scandals, and Caricatures