Jens Juel and the Business of Portrait Painting

In the latter half of the 18th century cultural changes and economic growth in European society stimulated the demand for portraits and consequently the establishment of the prolific portrait painter. This paper examines the circumstances that may have contributed to the success enjoyed by Danish portrait painter Jens Juel during this period. It studies whether the increasing
demand for portraits influenced their production with regard to technique and materials, and extends comparison to portrait painters from nearby countries, especially Sir Joshua Reynolds and Anton Graff. Together with great talent, Juel possessed good business acumen and adapted quickly to societal changes and trends, with a willingness to meet market demands and client requests. Through his connections in society, and perhaps self-promotion, he became a public figure and gained popularity and fame in his own lifetime. Juel was not just a gifted businessperson, self-promoter and talented painter who managed an increasingly productive portraiture business – a study of his work and the limited number of conservation records suggests that despite their fast execution, the quality and durability of his paintings did not suffer.