1786 in art

Events from the year 1786 in art.

Events

November – Boydell Shakespeare Gallery inaugurated in London.
Francisco Goya is appointed court painter to King Charles III of Spain.

Works

Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun's self-portrait with her daughter

Jacques-Louis David and Anne-Louis Girodet Oath of the Horatii (second version)

*The Sailor's Return* by Francis Wheatley

Mather Brown
- Portrait of Charles Bulfinch
- Portrait of Thomas Jefferson
Jean Germain Drouais – Marius at Minturnae^[1]
Thomas Gainsborough – Lavinia (The Milk Maid)
Anne-Louis Girodet – Coriolanus Taking Leave of His Family
Ozias Humphry – Portrait of Hyder Beg Khan
James Northcote – The Murder of the Princes in the Tower
Louise Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun
- Mademoiselle Sophie
- Self-portrait in a Turban with Julie
Jean-Laurent Mosnier – Self-portrait
Nagasawa Rosetsu
- Tiger Fusuma
- Dragon Fusuma
Joshua Reynolds
- Admiral Sir Edward Hughes
- Dr. John Hunter seated in his museum
John Trumbull
- The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker's Hill, June 17, 1775
- The Death of General Montgomery in the Attack on Quebec, December 31, 1775
Benjamin West – Alexander III of Scotland Rescued from the Fury of a Stag
Francis Wheatley – The Sailor's Return^[2]
Johann Zoffany – Colonel Antoine Polier, Claud Martin and John Wombwell with the Artist

Births

January 26 – Benjamin Haydon, English historical painter and writer (suicide 1846)
April 1 – William Mulready, Irish genre painter of rural scenes (died 1863)
April 16 – Albrecht Adam, painter (died 1862)^[3]
June 3 – Kim Jeong-hui, calligrapher, epigraphist, and scholar of Korea's later Joseon period (died 1856)
July 5 – Charles Alfred Stothard, historical draughtsman (died 1821)^[4]
July 9 – Rudolph Schadow, German sculptor (died 1822)
August 8 – Bengt Erland Fogelberg, Swedish sculptor (died 1854)^[5]
August 28 – Ferdinand Piloty, lithographer (died 1844)
September 28 – Johann Michael Sattler, Austrian portrait and landscape painter (died 1847)^[6]
October 10 – François-Édouard Picot, French historic painter (died 1868)
November 23 – František Tkadlík, Czech painter (died 1840)
date unknown
- Jean Alaux, French history painter and Director of the French Academy in Rome (died 1864)
- Julien-Honoré-Germain d'Aubuisson, French portrait and miniature painter (died 1860)
- Georgije Bakalović, Serbian painter (died 1843)
- Eugénie Honorée Marguerite Charen, French painter (died 1824)
- Jean Augustin Daiwaille, Dutch portrait painter (died 1850)
- William Derby, English miniature painter and copyist (died 1847)
- John Fischer, German portrait, miniature, and landscape painter (died 1875)
- James Frothingham, American painter (died 1864)
- Kunisada, Japanese designer of ukiyo-e woodblock prints (died 1865)
- Abraham Wivell, British portrait painter, writer and pioneer of fire protection (died 1849)
probable
- John Hayes, British portrait-painter (died 1866)

Deaths

January 8 – Johan Edvard Mandelberg, Swedish-born painter (born 1730)
January 12 – Claude-Henri Watelet, French fermier-général, amateur painter and writer on the arts (born 1718)
February 6 – Samuel Wale, English historical painter and book illustrator (born unknown)
February 17 – Thomas Beckwith, English painter, genealogist and antiquary (born 1731)
March 6 – Charles Germain de Saint Aubin, draftsman and embroidery designer to King Louis XV of France (born 1721)
March 18 – Jacob Bonneau, Anglo-French painter (date of birth unknown)
April 12 – Francesco Saverio Mergalo, Italian portrait painter (born 1746)
April 23 – Alexander Cozens, British landscape-painter in water-colours and teacher of painting (born 1717)
May 4 – Johann Kaspar Füssli, Swiss painter (born 1743)
June 21 – George Hepplewhite, English furniture designer (born 1727?)
July 14 – John Collier, English caricaturist and satirist (born 1708)
October 17 – Johann Ludwig Aberli, Swiss landscape painter and etcher (born 1723)
October 30 – William Duesbury, British enameller and entrepreneur (born 1725)
date unknown
- Andrea-Salvatore Aglio, Italian sculptor and painter on marble (born 1736)
- Johann Karl Auerbach, Austrian painter (born 1723)
- Tilly Kettle, portrait painter (born 1735)

References

^ https://collections.louvre.fr/ark:/53355/cl010064837
^ "The Sailor's Return". Art UK. Retrieved 15 December 2025.
^ Schmidt, W. (1875). "Adam: Malerfamilie" . Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (in German). Vol. 1. Duncker & Humblot. pp. 44–45.
^ This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Stothard, Charles Alfred". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 25 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 970.
^ One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Fogelberg, Benedict Erland". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 10 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 590.
^ S. Lundwall-Reichhart: "Sattler Johann Michael". In: Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Vol. 9, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1988, ISBN 3-7001-1483-4, p. 435 f. (Direct links to "p. 435", "p. 436")

[1] ttps://collections.louvre.fr/ark:/53355/cl010064837

[2] "The Sailor's Return". Art UK. Retrieved 15 December 2025.

[3] Schmidt, W. (1875). "Adam: Malerfamilie" . Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (in German). Vol. 1. Duncker & Humblot. pp. 44–45.

[4] This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Stothard, Charles Alfred". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 25 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 970.

[5] One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Fogelberg, Benedict Erland". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 10 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 590.

[6] S. Lundwall-Reichhart: "Sattler Johann Michael". In: Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Vol. 9, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1988, ISBN 3-7001-1483-4, p. 435 f. (Direct links to "p. 435", "p. 436")

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