SwissArtGallery · Documented identity
Born in Lübeck in 1646 under the name Gottfried Kniller, Godfrey Kneller was a portrait painter whose name also appears in the form Gottfried Kneller. His father, Zachary Kniller, a painter and the city’s chief surveyor, was himself part of the world of images and drawing. Accounts of his training link him to Ferdinand Bol, but differ in their accounts of where he studied: one mentions mathematics in Leiden around 1662, followed by instruction from Bol and, probably, Rembrandt; the other places him with Bol in Amsterdam. He began painting portraits during his stay in Italy. The work Elijah, held at the Tate Gallery in London and dated to this period, is described as bearing a strong influence of Bol.
After being introduced to the Duke of Monmouth, he received commissions from Charles II, and one source specifically links his rise as a portraitist to the execution of the king’s portrait. Among his most substantial groups of works is the series of forty-two bust portraits of members of the Kit-Cat Club, a literary circle whose portraits are held at the National Portrait Gallery in London. A portrait of Sir Isaac Newton, dated 1689, is recorded at Kensington Palace. Tate Britain holds, among other works, the portrait of the first Marquess of Tweeddale, an oil on canvas from 1695, and that of the engraver John Smith, also painted in oil on canvas, from 1696.
His practice also relied on a London studio, which produced replicas and copies; in many of his paintings, assistants undertook the draperies and other secondary elements. About five hundred works are said to have remained unfinished in the studio at the time of his death. In 1711, he became director of the London Academy of Drawing and Painting, founded with James Thornhill and Louis Laguerre, and was re-elected each year until 1718. Official recognition of his career also took the form of an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Oxford in 1695, followed by his appointment as a knight of the Holy Roman Empire by Emperor Leopold I in 1700. In Twickenham, where he was churchwarden of the parish church in 1713, he took part in plans to restore the building after a fire.
This profile brings together identity references for Godfrey Kneller and paintings, drawings and works on paper documented in auction catalogues.
Dobiaschofsky · Piguet
References include catalogue entries and available results; they do not all represent completed sales.
These references are shown separately because of their attribution or lot composition. Each record states the reason.
Oil on canvas
Attribué à GODFREY KNELLER — Lady Elizabeth mit Gefolge.
Öl auf Leinwand
Zugeschrieben
Catalogue period : 2013-05-17
Attributed
Published result : 15000 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 12000
View the lot at the auction house ↗Oil on canvas
Entourage de Godfrey Kneller — Portrait d'un violoniste
huile sur toile
entourage de
Catalogue period : 2015-10-07
Circle of
Published result : 2200 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
View the lot at the auction house ↗Oil on canvas
Entourage de Godfrey Kneller — Portrait d'un violoniste
huile sur toile
entourage de
Catalogue period : 2015-03-11
Circle of
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
View the lot at the auction house ↗SwissArtGallery documentary note based on the cited sources. Titles, media and qualifications are provided in the profile language; the original catalogue wording remains available in each record.
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