Portraitist, history painter, illustrator, author and much more was Joseph Highmore. Although his uncle was already court artist to William III of Orange, Joseph was encouraged to pursue a legal education rather than a career in painting. While studying, he attended the drawing academy with the leading portrait painter of England in the late 17th century, Sir Godfrey Kneller, and soon devoted himself entirely to painting. He married the poet Susanna Hiller and attended art schools and anatomy lectures by the famous surgeon and anatomist William Cheselden.
Highmore devoted himself to portraiture and worked in Kneller's more realistic style. He also later drew inspiration from the French rococo painters and draughtsmen Mercier and Gravelot, and from the Flemish baroque master Peter Paul Rubens. After numerous study trips, which took him to Paris to study contemporary art, among other places, he also devoted himself to history painting and biblical motifs. One of these is "Hagar and Ismael", which is now part of the art collection of the Foundling Museum in London. Also well-known is "The Angel of Mercy" (1746). The portrait shows an angel trying to stop a woman from strangling her baby by pointing to a newly built hospital - the Foundling Hospital. For this hospital Highmore worked as director and often as donor. His 12-part series "Pamela", in collaboration with engraver Guillame Benoist, shows scenes from the novel "Pamela or Rewarded Virtue" by Samuel Richardson and was divided between the National Gallery of Victoria, the Fitzwilliam Museum and the Tate Britain. He worked on these works between 1741 and 1744. A friendship with the bestselling author developed, which brought Highmore a new model, but also numerous stays in high society - the higher circles became enthusiastic about his portrait painting. His talent for drawing and his knowledge of anatomy also led him to illustrate a book on the anatomy of the human body by Cheselden. He also exhibited at the first exhibition of the Society of Artists of Great Britain. In 2017 an exhibition was held at the Foundling Museum, showing decades of Highmore's work, with a focus on the social criticism in his paintings.
Only a few years after the Society of Artists exhibition, Highmore sold a large part of his art collection (including the "Pamela" series), retired from painting and lived with his daughter and son-in-law. Now he worked mainly as an art writer and as an author of essays, pamphlets and treatises on the methods of perspective. He died in Canterbury in 1780, at the age of 87.
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.jpg "Hagar and Ishmael by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "The Harlowe Family, from Samuel Richardson")
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.jpg "The Harlowe Family, from Samuel Richardson")
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.jpg "The artist")
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.jpg "The Buck Brothers, engraved by Richard Houston, 1774 by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "Sir John Barnard, Lord Mayor by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "Pamela leaves Mr B")
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.jpg "Mary, Countess of Shaftesbury and her Son, Anthony Ashley Cooper by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "Pamela shows Mr Williams a hiding place for her letters, from")
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_a_Governor_of_the_Foundling_Hospital_1731_-_(MeisterDrucke-319939).jpg "Portrait of Thomas Emerson, a Governor of the Foundling Hospital, 1731 by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "Prince William Offering His Sword to the Dean, at the Altar, the Knights Standing Under Their Banners, Engraved by J. Pine by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "Pamela tells a nursery tale, from")
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.jpg "Pamela and Mr B. in the Summerhouse, from")
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.jpg "Conversation Piece, probably of the artist")
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.jpg "The Artist")
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.jpg "Portrait of a Woman by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "The Family of Eldred Lancelot-Lee by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "Anthony Highmore by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "A Portrait of a Boy with a Pet Squirrel, 18th Century by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "An Unknown Man in Black, 1735 by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "Sketch of a Young Girl, c.1730-40 by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "The Angel of Mercy by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "A Portrait of a Young Girl in a White Dress by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "Lady with a Pug Dog by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "The Angel of Mercy by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "Miss Hamilton by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "Portrait Of John Whitehall Of Furnivall")
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.jpg "Man in a white silk waistcoat by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "Portrait of a Man by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "Sir James Thornhill, Kt by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "Study for a Group Portrait, between 1729 and 1730 by Joseph Highmore")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-84305).jpg "Sir James Thornhill by Joseph Highmore")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-45436).jpg "Anthony Sayer, engraved by John Faber Jr by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "The Angel of Mercy by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "Double Portrait of Henry Penruddocke Wyndham and His Brother Wandham by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "Samuel Richardson, 1747 by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "An Unknown Man in Black by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "Mr. B. Finds Pamela Writing, Illustration from Richardson")
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.jpg "An Eighteenth-Century Rendezvous, c1744 by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "Sara, Anna and Evan Davies with their Dog by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "The Harlowe Family, from Samuel Richardson")
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.jpg "The Harlowe Family, from Samuel Richardson")
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_1750_-_(MeisterDrucke-96200).jpg "Portrait of Samuel Richardson by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "Freeman Flower by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "A Family Conversation Piece by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "Miss Hamilton by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "The Head of a Young Boy by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "Susanna, 4th Countess of Shaftesbury, 1744 by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "Mrs. Freeman Flower by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "Mary Rossam by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "Figures in a Tavern or Coffee House by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "Charles Penruddocke by Joseph Highmore")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-160500).jpg "Portrait of James Harris by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "Portrait of a Lady Holding a Floral Wreath by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "Portrait of a Lady by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "Portrait of John Adlercron Esq. by Joseph Highmore")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1497518).jpg "John Owen MP by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "The Head of a Young Boy by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "A Club of Gentlemen, ca. 1730 by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "Freeman Flower by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "Study for a Group Portrait by Joseph Highmore")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1635541).jpg "Portrait of a Lady by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "Samuel Richardson, English Writer and Printer by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "An Unknown Man by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "Mrs. Sharpe and Her Child by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "Frances West, 1742 by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "Figures in a Tavern or Coffee House by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "An Unknown Man by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "An Unknown Man in Black by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "Self-portrait by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "The Head of a Young Boy by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "The Angel of Mercy, ca. 1746 by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "Portrait of a Lady by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "Samuel Clarke by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "Mrs. Freeman Flower by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "Study for a Group Portrait by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "Mrs. Sharpe and Her Child by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "A Family Conversation Piece by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "Portrait of a Lady by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "Mrs. Sharpe and Her Child by Joseph Highmore")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-906737).jpg "Portrait of a Man by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "Samuel Richardson by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "William Fellowes by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "Figures in a Tavern or Coffee House by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "Mrs. Freeman Flower by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "A Club of Gentlemen by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "Study for a Group Portrait by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "Charles Penruddocke by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "Sketch of a Young Girl by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "A Club of Gentlemen by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "Sketch of a Young Girl by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "A Club of Gentlemen by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "An Unknown Man by Joseph Highmore")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1107313).jpg "Portrait of Frances Maria Fountayne by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "Mrs Sharpe and Child by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "A Family Conversation Piece by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "Portrait of a Lady by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "Figures in a Tavern or Coffee House by Joseph Highmore")
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_par_Highmore_Joseph_(1692-1780_-_(MeisterDrucke-941657).jpg "Portrait of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu by Joseph Highmore")
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.jpg "Mrs. Elizabeth Birch and Her Daughter, 1741 by Joseph Highmore")
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