The Ringling Museum's British Treasures

The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota is operated by the State of Florida, housing the bequests of the Ringling family and others. Left is a view of the interior courtyard.  Recently, the entire museum was renovated and its collections rehung.  
    Well worth a visit!

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Of course I am particularly partial to the British paintings of the 18th and 19th centuries.  Above Left is my photo of the Joshua Reynolds portrait of John Manners, Marquis of Granby, 1766.  Sir Joshua (1723-92) was the first president of the Royal Academy of Art in London.  Right, his colleague and competitor, Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788), who painted this equestrian portrait of Lt. General Philip Honywood.
     Below, Benjamin West's historical painting of Agrippina and Her Children Mourning over the Ashes of Germanicus, 1773. West (1738-1820), born in America, succeeded Reynolds as President of the RA. Right, George IV When Prince of Wales attributed to John Hoppner (1758-1810). This colorful portrait of the man who would be Prince Regent for his father, George III, for nine years, truly characterizes him as a dedicated, if self-indulgent, connoisseur of the arts. Click on the pictures for full size images.

Above L, Mr. Hope Vere of Blackwood, c. 1805, by Henry Raeburn (1756-1823); M, The Sisters (Georgina and Elizabeth Reay of Killingworth Hall, Northumberland) by George Watson (1767-1837); Mrs. George Frederick Stratton nee Anne d'Ewwes, 1811, by Sir Thomas Lawrence (1769 -1830).
      Below, The Sirens, 1870, unfinished, by Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898); R, Roman Courtship, by William Ernest Reynolds-Stephens (1862-1943).