The directory «Artists»

Brown Mather
(1761—1831)

American portrait and history painter active in England. Born in Boston, he was taught by his aunt and around 1773 became a pupil of Gilbert Stuart. He arrived in London in 1781 to further his training in Benjamin West’s studio and entered the Royal Academy schools in 1782. He began to exhibit there a year later. In 1784 he painted two religious paintings for the church of St Mary’s-in-the-Strand. Despite their success he concentrated on portraiture. He portrayed American sitters, among others his patron John Adams and his family in 1784–85, and in 1785–86 painted a portrait of Thomas Jefferson. The full-length portrait of Prince Frederick Augustus in the uniform of Colonel of the Coldstream Guards led to his appointment as History and Portrait Painter to his sitter, later the Duke of York. He also portrayed the Prince of Wales, later George IV, in fancy dress (about 1789, Royal Collection, Buckingham Palace, London).

His other sitters included the philanthropist John Howard, the fencing master Henry Angelo and the judge and barrister Sir Francis Buller, Bt, (all three circa 1790, National Portrait Gallery, London). These paintings represent three different formats of Brown’s portraits: the bust-length medallion portrait of Howard set against a plain background, the half-length portrait of Angelo in a boldly white uniform holding a foil and the full-length, elaborate portrayal of Buller in a wig, sitting in a gothic armchair, set against drapery and a window with architecture in the distance. Brown’s true inclination, however, was not with portraits but devotional and history subjects to which he dedicated his later years. Unable to secure commissions, Brown eventually died in poverty.

Belize. Cayes of Belize, 1985, The Battle of the Nile: Destruction of 'L'Orient'

Nevis, 2005, Lord Howe on the Deck of the «Queen Charlotte»