George White (c. 1684–1732) was an English

mezzotint Mezzotint is a monochrome printmaking process of the '' intaglio'' family. It was the first printing process that yielded half-tones without using line- or dot-based techniques like hatching, cross-hatching or stipple. Mezzotint achieves tonali ...

engraver.

Life

The son of Robert White, he was born about 1684, and instructed by his father until his death in 1703. He completed some of the plates left unfinished by the latter, and himself executed a few in the line manner; but beginning from 1712 he turned to mezzotints. A portrait of

Jean-Baptiste Monnoyer Jean-Baptiste Monnoyer (12 January 1636 – 20 February 1699) was a Franco-Flemish painter who specialised in flower pieces. He was attached to the Gobelins tapestry workshops and the Beauvais tapestry workshops, too, where he produced cartoons ...

, which he executed in this style from a painting by

Godfrey Kneller Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1st Baronet (born Gottfried Kniller; 8 August 1646 – 19 October 1723), was the leading portrait painter in England during the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and was court painter to Kingdom of England, English and Br ...

, was much admired and brought him work. He died at his house in

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural, intellectual, and educational institutions. Bloomsbury is home of the British Museum, the largest mus ...

on 27 May 1732.George White (circa 1684-1732), Engraver
Retrieved on 15 Mar 2018 Colonel Francisco by George White

Works

A leading English mezzotint engraver, he was the first to make use of etched lines to strengthen the work. White's plates number about sixty, the most of them he published himself, and include portraits of

William Dobson William Dobson (4 March 1611 (baptised); 28 October 1646 (buried)) was a portraitist and one of the first significant English painters, praised by his contemporary John Aubrey as "''the most excellent painter that England has yet bred''". He ...

, bishop George Hooper, Tycho Wing, and Old Parr. White, like his father, drew portraits in pencil on

vellum Vellum is prepared animal skin or membrane, typically used as writing material. Parchment is another term for this material, from which vellum is sometimes distinguished, when it is made from calfskin, as opposed to that made from other anima ...

; he also practised in

crayon A crayon (or wax pastel) is a stick of pigmented wax used for writing or drawing. Wax crayons differ from pastels, in which the pigment is mixed with a dry binder such as gum arabic, and from oil pastels, where the binder is a mixture of wax an ...

s, and latterly took to painting in oils. His plate of the ''Laughing Boy'' after

Frans Hals Frans Hals the Elder (, , ; – 26 August 1666) was a Dutch Golden Age painter, chiefly of individual and group portraits and of genre works, who lived and worked in Haarlem. Hals played an important role in the evolution of 17th-century group ...

was published after his death, with laudatory verses.

Selected works

National Portrait Gallery * ''Probably William Somerville'', pencil on vellum, 1709 * ''Isaac Watts'', mezzotint, 1727 * ''William Dobson'', mezzotint, ( 1642–1646) * ''John Dryden'', mezzotint, (1698) * ''Thomas Parr'', mezzotint, early 18th century * ''Erasmus Smith'', mezzotint, early 18th century * ''Thomas Blood'', mezzotint, early 18th century * ''James Gardiner'', line engraving, early 18th century * ''Thomas Reynolds'', mezzotint, early 18th century National Gallery of Victoria, MelbourneGEORGE WHITE
Retrieved on 15 Mar 2018 * ''Rev. Mr John Nesbitt'' * ''Nicolas Sanderson''

References

* ;Attribution 1680s births 1732 deaths English engravers {{UK-artist-stub