early life and training

charles howard hodges, a british painter, was born in 1764 in portsmouth. he began his artistic journey as a pupil of john raphael smith, a renowned artist of the time. in 1788, hodges visited amsterdam, which would later become his adopted home.

career and notable works

after a two-year stay in dublin, hodges moved to the hague in 1792, eventually settling in amsterdam in 1797. there, he worked under the guidance of johann friedrich august tischbein at the prinsengracht n° 205. hodges specialized in mezzotint and pastel techniques, which he had learned in england and from tischbein, respectively. as a portrait painter, hodges gained fame for capturing the likenesses of over 700 prominent figures of his time. his subjects included leaders of the netherlands during the napoleonic period, such as willem v, rutger jan schimmelpenninck, louis bonaparte, and napoleon bonaparte. the only known portrait of sebald justinus brugmans was also made by hodges.

legacy and influence

in 1815, hodges advised the dutch government on the return of thousands of artworks confiscated by the french in 1795. although not all the stolen art was returned from paris, many of hodges' portraits can be found in the rijksmuseum in amsterdam and other museums.

• view charles howard hodges' artworks on ArtsDot.com
• read more about charles howard hodges on wikipedia
• explore the rijksmuseum's collection, featuring many of hodges' portraits, on ArtsDot.com

notable artworks by charles howard hodges:

• portrait of willem v (oil on canvas)
• portrait of rutger jan schimmelpenninck (pastel)
• portrait of louis bonaparte (mezzotint)

other notable artists with similar styles:

• willem vester
• thomas gainsborough