Outsider artist

In the various mixed exhibitions I’ve seen over the years that dealt with 18th- and 19th-century British art, Johan Zoffany (1733–1810) has always seemed to stand out. Yet there hasn’t been a museum show devoted to his work in this country since the National Portrait Gallery’s survey of 1977, so Martin Postle must be congratulated on organising the current exhibition (supported by Cox & Kings), already seen at the Yale Center for British Art in Connecticut, especially since plans to hold it at the Tate were scuppered. I wonder why? The show has proved successful: it was very busy the day I went, though I did wonder what proportion of visitors had turned up to see the Hockney show, baulked at the queues and gone upstairs to see Zoffany instead…

The exhibition is a revelation of a major talent, and shows Zoffany to be an artist of much vigour and subtlety. The introductory section features several portraits of the man himself, including a rather dry and emotionless rendition by George Dance. Luckily there are a couple of much more engaging Zoffany full-face self-portraits in black chalk to give us an idea of the person behind the pictures. Born near Frankfurt, he trained in Rome and early on worked for German patrons, producing history paintings in the Grand Manner.

In the second section of the exhibition there’s a remarkable homoerotic ‘David with the Head of Goliath’ (1756), packed with innuendo, and ‘Susanna and the Elders’ (1760) next to it, as if to prove that when it came to luscious nudity Zoffany could cater for all tastes. If the direct treatment of these subjects is unexpected among the studies of dead game and allegories, it serves to demonstrate the versatility and character of this undervalued artist.