John Bagnold Burgess (British, 1830-1897)

Portrait of a Peasant Girl. Oil on paper laid on canvas, signed "J. B. Burgess" lower right, in a gilded and carved wooden frame, overall 25 ½" x 21".

Burgess was born in Chelsea, in London, and was the son of Henry William Burgess, landscape painter to William IV, and part of a family of several generations of distinguished artists. He was educated at "Brompton Grammar School" and, after the death of his father when he was 10 years old, received art training from William Charles Ross, the miniature painter - who had been friend of his father. In 1848 he went to James Mathews Leigh's art school in Soho. In 1850 he exhibited a picture at the Royal Academy and in 1849 entered the Academy schools, winning the first-class medal for life drawing. Each year from 1852 until his death, Burgess was an annual contributor to the Academy's exhibitions

Condition: Overall good condition consistant with age, evenly fluorescent under UV light, minor cracling to paint at right edge.