What's In a Frame? (Thomas Pooley and Mary Beale)
Not long ago, in pursuit of a particularly phenomenal portrait of Irish origin, I found myself learning about the entire group of 18th century Irish painters, en masse. As one does. How better to sort through them and winnow down the field of contenders to a solid attribution? Well, in this case, it didn’t work, but I did find something intriguing. Along the way, sifting through possibilities, I saved a trio of works by Thomas Pooley (1644-1723, Ireland), with the note “Too early, sadly.” It was a shame, because I’d have loved for this to be the artist. The portraits are fantastic. They’re a trio of youths from the Perceval family , a prominent Irish lineage. I was stunned by the dramatic chiaroscuro and the innovative optical-illusion framing. I resolved to put the artist on my to-do list and delve deeper into his oeuvre.