Brief Biography-John Hoppner was born in Whitechapel in 1758 of German lineage. The Royal Academy admitted him in 1775; he first exhibited there in 1780, and by 1782, he had received two medals. In 1789, the Prince of Wales elected him as Court Painter. Hoppner became a full Academician in 1795. Joshua Reynolds influenced his style. He mainly painted portraits of nobility, exhibiting exclusively at the Academy. His only competitor was Sir Thomas Lawrence, who also received commissions from nobility, most notably after Reynolds’ death, when he was appointed Principal Painter in Ordinary to his Majesty. Hoppner died from an ongoing illness at age fifty-one in 1810. In 1901, a portrait by him received a record price for any artwork in the country up to that date.