Edmund Ashfield
Encyclopedia
Edmund Ashfield was an English portrait
painter and miniaturist
, who worked in both oils
and pastels.
Ashfield came from a respectable Buckinghamshire
family family and was a pupil of John Michael Wright
(1617-94). He worked both in oil and in pastel, but excelled most in the latter. Vertue
mentions a neatly painted head by him of Sir John Bennett (afterwards Lord Ossulston). He
appears to have been also a copyist, for there are portraits of Frances, Countess of Warwick, and of Mary, Lady Herbert
(afterwards Duchess of Richmond and Lennox), after Van Dyck, which are finished with extreme delicacy.
His crayon drawings were highly finished, and characterised by the harmonious blending of the tints, of which he multiplied the number and variety, black and white only having hitherto chiefly been employed, the paper forming the middle tint.
Ashfield died around 1700. Amongst his pupils was Edward Lutterell (c. 1650-1710), whose works in crayons are superior to those of his teacher, and Garret Morphy (c.1655-1715).
Portrait painting
Portrait painting is a genre in painting, where the intent is to depict the visual appearance of the subject. Beside human beings, animals, pets and even inanimate objects can be chosen as the subject for a portrait...
painter and miniaturist
Miniature painting
Miniature painting may refer to:* Miniature * Persian miniature* Ottoman miniature* Portrait miniature* Painting miniature figures used in wargaming or role-playing games...
, who worked in both oils
Oil painting
Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments that are bound with a medium of drying oil—especially in early modern Europe, linseed oil. Often an oil such as linseed was boiled with a resin such as pine resin or even frankincense; these were called 'varnishes' and were prized for their body...
and pastels.
Ashfield came from a respectable Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
family family and was a pupil of John Michael Wright
John Michael Wright
John Michael Wright was a portrait painter in the Baroque style. Described variously as English and Scottish, Wright trained in Edinburgh under the Scots painter George Jamesone, and acquired a considerable reputation as an artist and scholar during a long sojourn in Rome...
(1617-94). He worked both in oil and in pastel, but excelled most in the latter. Vertue
George Vertue
George Vertue was an English engraver and antiquary, whose notebooks on British art of the first half of the 18th century are a valuable source for the period.-Life:...
mentions a neatly painted head by him of Sir John Bennett (afterwards Lord Ossulston). He
appears to have been also a copyist, for there are portraits of Frances, Countess of Warwick, and of Mary, Lady Herbert
Mary Stewart, Duchess of Richmond
Mary Stewart, Duchess of Richmond and Duchess of Lennox , formerly Lady Mary Villiers, was the daughter of the 1st Duke of Buckingham....
(afterwards Duchess of Richmond and Lennox), after Van Dyck, which are finished with extreme delicacy.
His crayon drawings were highly finished, and characterised by the harmonious blending of the tints, of which he multiplied the number and variety, black and white only having hitherto chiefly been employed, the paper forming the middle tint.
Ashfield died around 1700. Amongst his pupils was Edward Lutterell (c. 1650-1710), whose works in crayons are superior to those of his teacher, and Garret Morphy (c.1655-1715).
External links
- Edmund Ashield on Artnet
- Portrait of Charles, 5th Baron North (V&A, London)