Portrait of a Naval Officer
John Wollaston
1749–58
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
127 × 101.6 cm (50 × 40 in.)
Classification
painting
Department
Arts of the Americas
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
27160
About the Artist
John Wollaston · 1700–1800
John Wollaston (active c. 1710–1775) was an English portrait painter who brought sophisticated Rococo styles from London to the British North American colonies, becoming one of the most prolific artists in the region during the mid-18th century. Little is known of his early life beyond his likely birth in London as the son of a painter—possibly named John Wollaston or John Woolston, according to H...