Portrait of Mr. Gambier

Portrait of Mr. Gambier by John I Smart: Although it is impossible to say if it was always part of the artist’s process to…

What to notice

In Portrait of Mr. Gambier, start with classical, portrait, figurative. Then look closely at this museum-described detail: A group of preparatory sketches—of which this portrait is one—descended through the Smirke family after Smart’s daughter Sarah gave a sketchbook containing preparatory portrait studies to her friend Mary Smirke…

Discover

Although it is impossible to say if it was always part of the artist’s process to execute a preparatory sketch prior to painting each miniature, we do know that John Smart retained many hundreds of these sketches. A group of preparatory sketches—of which this portrait is one—descended through the Smirke family after Smart’s daughter Sarah gave a sketchbook containing preparatory portrait studies to her friend Mary Smirke, sister of the celebrated Victorian architect Sydney Smirke. This book was probably broken up…