John Greenhill

John Greenhill was a portrait painter and draughtsman. His artistic training is unknown, but his first work is thought to be a portrait of his uncle, James Abbot of Salisbury. Born in Somerset, by 1662 he had moved to London. He joined the studio of Peter Lely, but soon established his own studio. Greenhill painted a wide variety of people, many of them actors and playwrights. His early works consisted chiefly of theatrical drawings of actors as characters, executed in crayons and pastel. Greenhill's short career was brought to an abrupt end when he tragically drowned in a gutter after a drinking spree.

Text © National Portrait Gallery, London