Lot 121 D‡α

The London based artist John Smart was one of the most important English miniaturists of his era. Unlike his close friend and contemporary Richard Cosway, Smart painted in a naturalistic style, and was admired for his ability to paint skin in realistic colouring. He received a prize from the Society of Arts when he was just 14 years old. He was a highly productive artist, exhibiting regularly at the Society and becoming its director in 1773, as well as at the Royal Academy. He lived in India from 1785 to 1796, where he found fame as a portraitist among the English expatriot high society. He signed his portraits from this era, to which the present work belongs, with "I" for "India" after the date.
Gustav Pilster (1864 - 1944), the previous owner of this piece, was a Berlin banker and member of the supervisory board of the Commerzbank. He amassed a significant art collection in the early 20th century, helped and advised by the directors of the Museen Preußischer Kulturbesitz, including Leopold Reidemeister.