The Hon. Mrs. Gray

Daniel Gardner (c. 1750-1805) was an English portrait painter known for his portraits in oil and crayon that combine the elegance of 18th-century portraiture with a softer, more intimate manner. The Hon. Mrs. Gray from c. 1785-90 depicts the sitter in the elegant, intimate manner that distinguishes Gardner's best work from the more formal portraiture of his contemporaries. The c. 1785-90 date places this in the period when Gardner was producing the portraits of English society figures that are his most accomplished works, and the intimate manner of the portrait suggests that Mrs. Gray was a personal acquaintance rather than a formal commission.

Gardner's portrait of The Hon. Mrs. Gray is important in the history of 18th-century English portraiture because it demonstrates the intimate manner that distinguishes his best work from the more formal portraiture of his contemporaries. The painting's combination of elegance and intimacy—official portraiture with a personal touch—represents the softer side of 18th-century English portraiture that would develop into the more intimate manner of the Romantic period.

The Hon. Mrs. Gray is Gardner's intimate English portraiture: the sitter rendered with the combination of elegance and personal warmth that distinguishes his best work from more formal contemporaries. The c. 1785-90 portrait represents the softer, more intimate side of 18th-century English portraiture that would lead to the Romantic manner.