Lot 233: John Astley (1724-1787)

Portrait of a lady, bust-length, in an elaborate red dress with ermine trim, with a white lace ruff, and pearls in her hair
oil on canvas
25 1/4 x 21 1/8 in. (64.1 x 53.7 cm.)

Astley trained under Thomas Hudson in the early 1740s and was in Italy at the end of that decade, where he briefly studied under Pompeo Batoni. He established a successful practice in London on his return and spent three prosperous years in Dublin after 1756. On his voyage back to England he married a wealthy widow, Lady Dukinheld Daniell, and retired from painting.

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