STROEHLING Peter Edward

(1766- vers. 1826)

Portrait of Baroness Harriott Bloomfield born Douglas (1776? - 1868)

Around 1805

Watercolor and gouache, oval, 7,5 x 5,8 cm

Gold metal frame, 9,5 x 6 m

Label on the back

Baroness Bloomfield is depicted half-length in a compositional structure very typical of our painter. The tilt of the head and the gaze that turns towards the viewer from below gives sensuality to the portrait. Also in this case, Stroehling gives the complexion a very soft and delicate pink. The painter also achieves this effect with a few red brush strokes on the back of the pictorial support.

Baroness Harriott Bloomfield born Douglas (1776? - 1868) was the wife of Benjamin Bloomfield, 1st Baron Bloomfield GCB GCH (13 April 1768 – 15 August 1846), a British Army officer who saw action at the Battle of Vinegar Hill in June 1798 during the Irish Rebellion. He was Member of Parliament for Plymouth from 1812 from 1818 and served as Private Secretary to the Sovereign from 1817 to 1822 before becoming Commanding Officer of the garrison at Woolwich in 1826.

Peter Edward Stroehling, (sometimes called Peter Eduard Ströhling, Stroely or Straely) was born in 1768 in Düsseldorf, and was educated at the expense of Catherine the Great.

Like many others, he was an itinerant artist and traveled most of Europe seeking major commissions. Indeed, among his clients there are many crowned heads and important names. He worked in Paris, Mannheim, Frankfurt, Mainz, and around 1792 he studied in Italy. At the beginning of 1796 he was in Vienna and the same year he went to Saint Petersburg to attend the coronation of Paul I of Russia. Thereafter he obtained numerous commissions in Saint Petersburg and remained there until 1801. From 1803 to 1807 he was in London, and remained there from 1819 to 1826. He exhibited his works at the Royal Academy between 1803 and 1826. He died in London around 1826.

Price: 3300

PROVENANCE:

-Private collection, London.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Bénézit, Bryan, Thieme-Becker, Schidlof, Bouchard, Lemberger, Darmon, Foster, Blattel, Selinova, Busse, Muller.

MUSEUMS:

Louvre; Tansey, Celle; Hohenzollernmuseum; Scottish National Portrait Gallery; Coll Clarke.