Painted when she was based in Madras towards the end of her life, these three bust-length portraits by the Scottish artist Katherine Read depict her three teenaged nephews. These, alongside the nearby portrait of her sister, likely rank amongst her very last paintings as she died during her passage home to Britain in 1778.
Each nephew is presented in different costume but positioned in such a way - within their matching feigned ovals - that would suggest that their portraits were intended as a set. The brothers probably arrived in Madras together in 1776; it seems plausible that these portraits were painted soon after their arrival, possibly even to commemorate their recent appointments as cadets within the East India Company.
The two eldest brothers, Robert (right) and Alexander (left), became prominent figures within the British East India Company as military engineers, Robert ultimately becoming a Captain within the Royal Engineers and Alexander as a Major General and, latterly, Governor of St Helena. Not much is known of John, the youngest brother (center) other than he was ‘lost at sea’.
Katherine Read was a pioneering and highly successful portraitist in pastels and oils. She was the first Scottish woman to train as an artist and was one of the most fashionable portraitists of the 18th century, painting royalty and gaining fame across Europe, where she was regarded as “The Rosalba of Britain”.
After training under Maurice-Quentin de la Tour in Paris and Louis-Gabriel Blanchet in Rome, she moved to London in 1753, establishing herself in St James’s. After exhibiting regularly at the Society of Artists and Royal Academy, she moved to India in search of new opportunities and a husband for her niece, Helena Beatson (1762 - 1839), who was her only pupil. After Helena married, and with failing health, Read decided to return to England in December 1778, but died whilst at sea.
