Wilson Online Reference
Hone
Name
Nathaniel Hone the Elder, 1718-1784
Connection to Wilson
Artist
Biographical Details
Nathaniel Hone the Elder was an Irish-born portrait and miniature painter who may have studied with Robert West, at his art school in St George's Lane, Dublin. Hone moved to England in his youth and lived there for the rest of his life, settling in St James's Place, London. Contrary to popular accounts, Hone did not travel to Italy. He exhibited 28 paintings at the Society of Artists of Great Britain between 1760 and 1768. Having signed the petition for incorporation in 1766, he was among the first directors of the new Society of Incorporated Artists. He painted some genre subjects and miniatures but primarily portraits, many of which were engraved, often by Hone himself. In 1768 he was a founding member of the Royal Academy, London. As a collector of Wilson's drawings his mark is a stylised eye (Lugt 2793).
Patronage of Works
D120 Composition, View of a Town with Trees, Tate, London (T09253);
D121 Composition, View of a Town with Trees, Tate, London (T09254);
D185 Landscape View under a Stone Pine, Leeds Museums and Galleries;
D190 Italian Scene with Tower, The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, California;
D196 Landscape with Figures, The Courtauld Gallery, London;
D242 Pastoral Landscape with a Tower, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam;
D243 Italian Landscape with two Figures in a Park, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.
Significant institutions
Incorporated Society of Artists; Royal Academy.
Sales: Christie & Ansell 4-7 April 1781; Hutchins 7-10 February 1785