John Philip Kemble

Martin Archer Shee · c. 1795

Medium

Oil on canvas

Original size

72.7 × 59.7 cm (28 5/8 × 23 1/2 in.); Framed: 99.7 × 88.3 × 10.2 cm (39 1/4 × 34 3/4 × 4 in.)

Currently held

Art Institute of Chicago

Movement

Neoclassicism

This portrait of John Philip Kemble — the most celebrated tragic actor of his generation — carries the composed authority that made him famous on the London stage in the late eighteenth century. Martin Archer Shee was one of the most accomplished portrait painters of the era, a contemporary of Lawrence who brought a similar elegance and psychological presence to his sitters. His handling of fabric and shadow is confident, and his ability to convey character without theatricality is evident here: Kemble looks out with a stillness that feels entirely in keeping with the classical restraint he brought to roles like Hamlet and Coriolanus. Shee would later serve as President of the Royal Academy, and this work reflects the serious ambition he brought to portraiture from early in his career. Kemble was so synonymous with dignified, neoclassical acting that critics of the time drew direct comparisons between his stage presence and the subjects of Grand Manner portraiture — making this painting a natural pairing of two artists working in the same elevated register. Our hand-painted oil reproduction is made on canvas using traditional materials, allowing the tonal depth and surface quality of the original to carry through in a way that print reproductions simply cannot match.