Portrait of Captain George Porter 1789

John Hoppner painted this portrait of Captain George Porter using oil on canvas. Here, the handling of the paint itself is relatively conventional, yet it’s worth considering the social context in which Hoppner was working. Oil paint lends itself to illusions of light, depth, and texture. All of these qualities serve to flatter the sitter. More than that, every aspect of Porter's attire speaks to global trade networks, and the labor required to sustain them. The tailoring of his fine red coat, the weaving of his sash, and the dying of his clothing would have required skilled artisans. The backdrop, depicting what appears to be a Middle Eastern city, also implies the Captain’s worldliness, as does the fashionable cut of his hair. Even the canvas itself, a textile stretched over a wooden frame, is the product of many hands. Seeing this, we can recognize that the fine arts have always relied on craft.