Lot 89: John Dixon (c.1740-1811) WILLIAM ROBERT

John Dixon (c.1740-1811) WILLIAM ROBERT FITZGERALD, 2ND DUKE OF LEINSTER (1749-1804), 1773 signed lower right; signed lower left by Sir Joshua Reynolds; dated lower centre; with original Colnaghi label on reverse mezzotint 51 by 36cm., 20 by 14in. Provenance: P.& D. Colnaghi & Co. Ltd., London; Private collection Literature: Bromley, Henry, A Catalogue of Engraved British Portraits from Egbert the Great to the Present Time, T. Payne, London, 1793, p.331 John Dixon was born in Dublin and studied at the drawing school of the Dublin Society before moving to London in 1765 where he exhibited with Society of Artists of Great Britain from 1766. By 1770 Dixon had engraved four fine mezzotints after Reynolds; these and other portraits were published by William Wynne Ryland. From 1771 Dixon himself published some of his prints, most by Reynolds, as is the case with this work. His Final exhibit in 1775 was of the 1st Duke of Leinster, James Fitzgerald (See Chaloner Smith, no. 22) after Reynolds. This work was celebrated as, "A masterpiece of Art which has never been excelled". Dixon married Ann Kempe, a wealthy widow, the same year after which he ceased to work and retired to a life of leisure.