Philippe Mercier
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Philippe Mercier (also spelled Philip Mercier; 1689 – 18 July 1760) was an artist of
French Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...
descent from the German realm of Brandenburg-Prussia (later
Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...
), usually defined to French school. Active in England for most of his working life, Mercier is considered one of the first practitioners of the
Rococo Rococo, less commonly Roccoco ( , ; or ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpte ...
style, and is credited with influencing a new generation of 18th-century English artists.


Life

Mercier was born in
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
, the son of Pierre Mercier (died 1729,
Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...
), a
Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...
tapestry-worker. He studied painting at the
Akademie der Wissenschaften of Berlin The Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (), abbreviated BBAW, is the official academic society for the natural sciences and humanities for the German states of Berlin and Brandenburg. Housed in three locations in and around Ber ...
and later under
Antoine Pesne Antoine Pesne () (29 May 1683 – 5 August 1757) was a French-born court painter of Prussia. Starting in the manner of baroque, he became one of the fathers of rococo in painting. His work represents a link between the French school and the Fr ...
, who had arrived in Berlin in 1710. Later, he travelled in Italy and France before arriving in London—"recommended by the Court at Hannover"—probably in 1716. He married in London in 1719 and lived in Leicester Fields. He was appointed principal painter and librarian to the Prince and Princess of Wales at their independent establishment in Leicester Fields, and while he was in favour he painted various portraits of royalty, and no doubt many of the nobility and gentry. Of the royal portraits, those of the Prince of Wales and of his three sisters, painted in 1728, were all engraved in mezzotint by John Simon, and that of the three elder children of the Prince of Wales by
John Faber the Younger John Faber the Younger (1684 – 2 May 1756)Johan Faber II
at the RKD was a Dutch portrait engraver active in L ...
in 1744. This last (entitled ''Playing Soldiers'') was a typical piece of Mercier's composition, the children being made the subject of a spirited, if somewhat childish, allegory in their game of play. Prince George is represented with a firelock on his shoulder, teaching a dog his drill, while his little brother and sister are equally occupied in a scene that is aptly used to point a patriotic moral embodied in some verses subjoined to the plate, of which the concluding couplet is as follows: In 1733, Mercier painted a Portrait of 'Frederick, Prince of Wales, playing a violoncello, and his Sisters'. National Portrait Gallery, London. There is an alternative version of the painting in the Royal Collection. In the painting 'The Sense of Hearing', 1744, women are playing violin, violoncello, harpsichord, and flute in the Yale Center for British Art. Mercier lost favour at Court and was replaced as principal painter to Frederick Prince of Wales by
John Ellys John Ellys or Ellis (March 1701 – 14 September 1757) was an English portrait-painter. Life Ellys was born in March 1701. When he was about fifteen years old, he was placed for instruction under Sir James Thornhill. After a short time he took ...
on October 7, 1736. He 'went into the country' in 1736/7 and took rooms in
Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...
, London. In 1739 he relocated to
York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...
, where he focused on 'fancy' pictures concerned with domestic virtue and also practised portrait painting for over ten years, before returning to London in July 1751. In 1752, Mercier went to
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
at the request of several English merchants along with his family. He did not long remain there, however, but came back to London, where he died in 1760.
John Faber the Younger John Faber the Younger (1684 – 2 May 1756)Johan Faber II
at the RKD was a Dutch portrait engraver active in L ...
also engraved six plates of "Rural Life" after Mercier, and several other subjects of his have survived him. In August 2016, Mercier's painting ''Portrait of a Lady'' (1744) was one of the subjects for episode 19 in the 5th series of the
BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It p ...
series ''
Fake or Fortune? ''Fake or Fortune?'' is a BBC One documentary television series which examines the provenance and attribution of notable artworks. Since the first series aired in 2011, ''Fake or Fortune?'' has drawn audiences of up to 5 million viewers in t ...
'' Mercier's daughter Charlotte was also an artist in her early life, before turning to a life of dissolution and dying in the
St James Workhouse The St James Workhouse opened in 1725 on Poland Street in the Soho area of London, England, in what was then the parish of Westminster St James, and continued well into the nineteenth century. Higginbotham conjectured that the infirmary at St J ...
two years after her father's death.Profile of Claude Mercier
in the ''Dictionary of Pastellists Before 1800''.


Gallery


Gallery


References


Further reading

;Primary sources * * * * ;General studies * * * * * * * * ;Exhibition catalogues * * * ;Additional notes * * * * ;Reference books * * * * * * * *


External links

*
Portraits by Philip Mercier
at the
National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: * National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra * National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London ...
, London
Paintings by Philip Mercier
at
Tate Britain Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in En ...

Works by Mercier
from ''Art.com''
Works by Mercier
from ''Invaluable.com''
John Ingamells archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mercier, Philippe 1689 births 1760 deaths 18th-century English painters English male painters English etchers Huguenots 18th-century English male artists