very era has had its painters of high style and élan, who portrayed their sitters with the fashionable elegance they desired. Often the technique is dashing and bravura, at other times careful and precise. The artists who could deliver this coveted flair found themselves elevated into an aristocracy of their own, living lives as glamorous as their clientele. When, in 1550, the Emperor Charles V quickly stooped to recover the brush fallen from the hand of his portraitist Titian, a precedent was set. Richard Ormond writes: "They were artists of high style and great celebrity. They were lionized by the great and the good, who saw in their work a reflection of their own civilized values and self-esteem. it is good to be reminded of how influential they were in their own time, and what masters of their craft they proved to be."

This lecture presents works by Van Dyck, Lawrence, Gainsborough, Reynolds, Raeburn, David, Ingres, Sargent, Zorn, Boldini, Sorolla, Serov, Orpen and others.

The lecture is free to Portrait Institute members. Others are charged $20. Tickets are essential for all, and may be obtained by calling the Portrait Institute at 203.438.0297, or through the Ordering page.

The lecture will be presented in the gallery of the historic Salmagundi Art Club beginning promptly at 7:00 p.m. A buffet dinner will be served in the Salmagundi dining room beginning at 5:30 p.m. Reservations for dinner may be made by calling the club at 212.255.7740.

John Howard Sanden is a New York-based portrait painter, teacher and author of six books on portraiture. He is currently painting the official White House portrait of former President George W. Bush.