Joseph Greenway
Artist: Jens Juel (Danish, 1745 - 1802)
Original Dimensions: 31 3/8" x 39"
Location: National Gallery of Art, London
About Artwork: (1788) "Born in Devon, Joseph Greenway made his fortune captaining Danish cargo ships and became a Danish citizen in 1786. On his return to Britain, his wealth enabled him to rise in English society. He was Sheriff of Exeter from 1802 to 1803 and Mayor of the city from 1804 to 1805. In this highly sympathetic portrait, painted in Denmark in the summer of 1788, the Danish painter Jens Juel presents Greenway as an English gentleman accompanied by his hunting dog. Greenway’s open expression and relaxed pose reveal a man at ease with himself and comfortable in his surroundings. The portrait is full of meticulous observation, both of Greenway and of the shaded woodland that surrounds him. His pose and the rural setting have echoes of Thomas Gainsborough’s John Plampin, also in the National Gallery’s collection. The landscape setting is the coast of the Sound, 12 miles north of Copenhagen, and the ships on the horizon allude to Greenway’s nautical career." - (National Gallery of Art, London)

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