Portrait of a Young Man

An established portrait painter in England, John Wollaston came to the American colonies to ply his trade in 1749. For the next three years, Wollaston worked in New York, executing numerous portraits for area sitters eager to acquire quality likenesses from a skilled, European-trained artist—a rarity in mid-18th-century America. Wollaston rendered his figures with convincing modeling and forms, excelling in the depiction of colorful draperies. In Portrait of a Young Man, as in his other works of the time, the artist employed formulaic poses, gestures, and dress, a result, in part, of looking to English sources for portraiture, but also a means of meeting the many requests for commissions. Beginning in 1753, Wollaston painted in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and South Carolina.