Portrait of a gentleman, traditionally identified as Lawrence Rawstorne, half-length, in a black coat and white cravat

The present portrait is characteristic of Lawrence’s work in the late 1780s and early 1790s, when he established his reputation as one of the most important British artists, executing such acclaimed works as his portrait of actress Elizabeth Farren (1790; New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art). Lawrence refined his mastery of tone and texture and honed his ability to employ ‘many facile methods of giving the appearance of labour where the work was really slight’ (R. Redgrave and S. Redgrave, A Century of Painters of the English School, London, 1866, p. 38). This calculated spontaneity is evident in the present portrait, both in the sitter’s poised informality and in the loosely painted background.

The sitter wears a dark, high-collared coat offset by a white cravat. The sculpted folds and highlights of the cravat serve as a focal point. This interplay of light and texture recalls the Baroque tradition of Rembrandt and Van Dyck, prefiguring the bravura handling of drapery that would become a hallmark of Lawrence’s style.