Portraits of the Royal Academicians
Charles Bestland, 1802. Stipple engraving. Proof before letters. 22.5 x 30 inches. Founding members of the Royal Academy of Arts are assembled in the Council Chamber at New Somerset House surrounded by paintings and classical sculptures. At the center, the American artist Benjamin West is shown with a hat. Standing to the right are the painters John Singleton Copley and Joseph Farington. There are only two women founders near the back of the image, Mary Moser and Angelica Kauffman. Standing..... More