Portrait of William Linley

{{Short description|1788 painting by Thomas Lawrence}} {{Infobox artwork | image_file=Lawrence, Sir Thomas - William Linley - Google Art Project.jpg | image_upright=1.1 | title=Portrait of William Linley | artist=Thomas Lawrence | year=1788 | type=Oil on canvas, portrait | height_metric=76.2 | width_metric=63.5 | metric_unit=cm | imperial_unit=in | museum=Dulwich Picture Gallery | city=London }}

'''''Portrait of William Linley''''' is an oil on canvas portrait painting by the British artist Thomas Lawrence, from 1788. It depicts William Linley.<ref>Levey p.77-78</ref>

==History and description== Lawrence was a young Bath-based society portraitist, just as his career was about to take off.<ref>[https://www.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk/explore-the-collection/151-200/william-linley/ Dulwich Picture Gallery]</ref> The Linley Family of Bath were well-known musical performers, connected with the theatre. Lawrence was a friend of William Linley who was a year younger than him. The painting may have served as an audition for his bid for a royal commission.<ref>[https://www.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk/explore-the-collection/151-200/william-linley/ Dulwich Picture Gallery]</ref> George III reputedly joked that Linley needed a haircut.<ref>Roberts p.159</ref> Nonetheless, Lawrence was soon afterwards commissioned to paint the King's wife Queen Charlotte. That painting's success at the Royal Academy's Summer Exhibition led to Lawrence's establishment as a leading society portraitist. Today it is part of the collection at Dulwich Art Gallery in South London.<ref>[https://www.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk/explore-the-collection/151-200/william-linley/ Dulwich Picture Gallery]</ref> It was given as part of a bequest by the painting's subject along with other works featuring his family.<ref>Stourton p.232</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Bibliography== * Holmes, Richard. ''Thomas Lawrence Portraits''. National Portrait Gallery, 2010. * Levey, Michael. ''Sir Thomas Lawrence''. Yale University Press, 2005. * Roberts, Jane. ''George III and Queen Charlotte: Patronage, Collecting and Court Taste''. Royal Collection, 2004. * Stourton, James. ''Great Smaller Museums of Europe''. Scala, 2003.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Portrait of William Linley}} Category:1788 paintings Category:Paintings by Thomas Lawrence Category:Paintings in the Dulwich Picture Gallery Category:Portraits of men Category:18th-century portraits