Martin Archer Shee
, Irish, 1769-1850
Title
Portrait of Thomas Moore (1779-1852), PoetDatec.1817
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions
91 x 70 cm
Credit LinePresented, Captain R. Langton Douglas, 1916
Object numberNGI.775
DescriptionBorn in Dublin, Moore attended Trinity College, graduating in 1798, and the following year went to England to study law. A man of letters and music, he rose to great fame in London, where he promoted Irish sentimental nationalism among a wealthy and educated audience. Moore's hugely popular Irish Melodies was published in ten parts between 1807 and 1834, and the artist Daniel Maclise (1806-70) was commissioned to produce illustrations for a revised edition in 1846. Moore wrote a biography of his friend Lord Byron after the poet's death. Shee's characterisation of Moore pausing from his work, deep in thought, was a popular way of presenting writers and politicians in nineteenth-century portraiture. Shee trained at the Dublin Society Schools and went on to enjoy a successful career in London as a portrait and subject painter. He became a full member of the Royal Academy in 1800 and president in 1830. This half-length portrait of Moore is a replica of another painting by Shee.ProvenancePresented, Captain R. Langton Douglas, 1916Exhibition HistoryArt and Oratory, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 1970
A Rage for Exhibitions: Displaying Modern Art at Sommerset House, Courtauld Institute of Art, London, October 2001 - January 2002