Charles Howard Hodges (1764-1837) was an Englishman who, after a short visit to Amsterdam in 1788, decided to settle down permanently in the Netherlands. He soon found his place within the Dutch art world and made his name as a portraitist of the rich and famous. Over the years, he painted over 700 portraits of artists, politicians, businessmen and other important people, including royalties like King Louis Bonaparte and King William I of the Netherlands.
Although Hodges would continue to work in the Netherlands all his life, his work always retained an unmistakably English character. This is also present in the lovely painting that Hodges made of his daughter Emma Jane when she was 21 years old. Though she is dressed rather formally - she wears a gown and long-sleeved gloves in the Empire-style that was en vogue in those days - the painting is less solemn than most of Hodges’ work.
Although Hodges would continue to work in the Netherlands all his life, his work always retained an unmistakably English character. This is also present in the lovely painting that Hodges made of his daughter Emma Jane when she was 21 years old. Though she is dressed rather formally - she wears a gown and long-sleeved gloves in the Empire-style that was en vogue in those days - the painting is less solemn than most of Hodges’ work.
Emma Jane, who had a very good relationship with her father, apparently appreciated the painting herself. After her father’s death, she auctioned off most paintings from his legacy, but kept this portrait for herself. Shortly before her own death in 1868, she donated it to the Rijksmuseum, where it will hopefully be on show again in the future.
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