John Vanderbank was an English portrait painter and book illustrator, who enjoyed a high reputation for a short while during the reign of King George I

George I of Great Britain

George I was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1 August 1714 until his death, and ruler of the Duchy and Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg in the Holy Roman Empire from 1698....

, but who died relatively young due to an intemperate and extravagant lifestyle.

Life

Vanderbank was born in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, the eldest son of John Vanderbank Snr. His father was a Huguenot

Huguenot

The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...

 tapestry weaver, born in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, but who was forced to flee to Holland before coming to England where he became head of a Soho

Soho

Soho is an area of the City of Westminster and part of the West End of London. Long established as an entertainment district, for much of the 20th century Soho had a reputation for sex shops as well as night life and film industry. Since the early 1980s, the area has undergone considerable...

 tapestry weaving factory.

Vanderbank studied under Sir Godfrey Kneller

Godfrey Kneller

Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1st Baronet was the leading portrait painter in England during the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and was court painter to British monarchs from Charles II to George I...

 at James Thornhill

James Thornhill

Sir James Thornhill was an English painter of historical subjects, in the Italian baroque tradition.-Life:...

's art academy in Great Queen Street

Great Queen Street

Great Queen Street is a street in central London, England in the West End. It is a continuation of Long Acre from Drury Lane to Kingsway. It runs from 1 to 44 along the north side, east to west, and 45 to about 80 along the south side, west to east...

 from 1711 until 1720, when he joined with Louis Cheron

Louis Chéron

Louis Chéron was a French painter, illustrator and art tutor.-Life:Born into a French Protestant family of artists . He trained under his father then at the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture...

 to found his own academy in St. Martin's Lane

St. Martin's Lane

St. Martin's Lane is a street on the edge of Covent Garden in Central London, which runs from the church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, after which it is named, near Trafalgar Square northwards to Long Acre.A narrow street with relatively little traffic, St...

. The venture proved a failure, and in 1729 he went to France to avoid his creditors. On his return he entered "the liberties of the Fleet" - mansion houses near Fleet prison

Fleet Prison

Fleet Prison was a notorious London prison by the side of the Fleet River in London. The prison was built in 1197 and was in use until 1844. It was demolished in 1846.- History :...

, London, in which certain privileged prisoners could serve out their sentences in return for payment.

It was noted by George 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:...

 that "only intemperance prevented Vanderbank from being the greatest portraitist of his generation." He died of Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...

 in Holies Street, Cavendish Square

Cavendish Square

Cavendish Square is a public square in the West End of London, very close to Oxford Circus, where the two main shopping thoroughfares of Oxford Street and Regent Street meet. It is located at the eastern end of Wigmore Street, which connects it to Portman Square, part of the Portman Estate, to its...

, London, on 23 Dec. 1739, aged about 45, and was buried in Marylebone church

St Marylebone Parish Church

-First church:The first church for the parish was built in the vicinity of the present Marble Arch c.1200, and dedicated to St John the Evangelist.-Second church:...

.

Works

Vanderbank's portraits, among which are those of many eminent persons, are skilfully drawn and full of character, but slight and careless in execution. He had a great talent for historical composition, and 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:...

 spoke highly of some of his works of this class.

Vanderbank’s book illustrations include: the portrait of Sir Isaac Newton

Isaac Newton

Sir Isaac Newton PRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, who has been "considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived."...

 used in the frontspiece of the 1726 edition of Principia; the 66 plates of the first edition in Spanish of Cervantes

Cervantes

-People:*Alfonso J. Cervantes , mayor of St. Louis, Missouri*Francisco Cervantes de Salazar, 16th-century man of letters*Ignacio Cervantes, Cuban composer*Jorge Cervantes, a world-renowned expert on indoor, outdoor, and greenhouse cannabis cultivation...

' Don Quixote published in London (1738); and illustrations for 'Twenty-five Actions of the Manage Horse, engraved by Josephus Sympson (1729). His 1725 portrait of Sir Isaac Newton hangs in Trinity College, Cambridge

Trinity College, Cambridge

Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...

. Many of his portraits were engraved by John Faber Jr.

John Faber Junior

John Faber Junior was a Dutch portrait engraver active in London.-Life:He was born to the artist John Faber Senior in Amsterdam, and learned mezzotint and drawing from his father after the family's move to London. He then enrolled at the St. Martin's Lane Academy...

 and George White

George White (artist)

-Life:The son of Robert White, he was born about 1684, and instructed by his father. He completed some of the plates left unfinished by the latter, and himself executed a few in the line manner; but at an early period he turned to mezzotints. A portrait of Jean-Baptiste Monnoyer, which he executed...

. Vanderbank was amongst a group of artists painted by William Hogarth

William Hogarth

William Hogarth was an English painter, printmaker, pictorial satirist, social critic and editorial cartoonist who has been credited with pioneering western sequential art. His work ranged from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like series of pictures called "modern moral subjects"...

, of which there is an engraving by R. Sawyer.

Selected Works

Subject	Date	Medium	Collection	Location
Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough	1719	Oil on canvas	British Government Art Collection	UK
Woman Visiting a Sorceress	1721	Pastel on paper	Courtauld Institute of Art Courtauld Institute of Art The Courtauld Institute of Art is a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the history of art. The Courtauld is one of the premier centres for the teaching of art history in the world; it was the only History of Art department in the UK to be awarded a top...  Gallery	London, England
Sir Isaac Newton Isaac Newton Sir Isaac Newton PRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, who has been "considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived."...	1725	Oil on canvas	Trinity College Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...	Cambridge, England
Samuel Clarke			National Portrait Gallery	London, England
George I George I of Great Britain George I was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1 August 1714 until his death, and ruler of the Duchy and Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg in the Holy Roman Empire from 1698....	1726	Oil	Bowes Museum Bowes Museum The Bowes Museum has a nationally renowned art collection and is situated in the town of Barnard Castle, Teesdale, County Durham, England.The museum contains an El Greco, paintings by Francisco Goya, Canaletto, Jean-Honoré Fragonard, François Boucher and a sizable collection of decorative art,...	County Durham, England
The Volte Renversee to the Right	1728	Engraving	Tate Gallery Tate Gallery The Tate is an institution that houses the United Kingdom's national collection of British Art, and International Modern and Contemporary Art...	London, England
Don Quixote Addressing to Goatherds		Oil on board	Tate Gallery	London, England
George Lambert	1729	Oil	Cited by Waterhouse
Edward Wortley Montagu	1730	Oil on canvas	British Government Art Collection	UK
John Harvey	1732	Oil on canvas	British Government Art Collection	UK
Queen Caroline	1736	Oil	Duke of Richmond and Gordon	Goodwood, Sussex, England
Woman in White	1736	Oil on board	Dulwich Picture Gallery Dulwich Picture Gallery Dulwich Picture Gallery is an art gallery in Dulwich, South London. England's first purpose-built public art gallery, it was designed by Regency architect Sir John Soane and opened to the public in 1817. Soane arranged the exhibition spaces as a series of interlinked rooms illuminated naturally...	UK
A Youth of the Lee Family	1738	Oil on board	Tate Gallery	London, England
Woman in a Blue Dress		Oil on canvas	Private Collection	Ohio
Charles Christian Reisen		Oil on canvas
Louisa Carteret	1736			UK

External links

• J. Vanderbank online (ArtCyclopedia)
• J. Vanderbank biography (Philip Mould Fine Paintings)
• Historical portraits by John Vanderbank ((Philip Mould Fine Paintings)
• Portrait of Miss Rachel Long (1737, oil on canvas)
• Portrait of a gentleman (Art Renewal center)