Charles Jervas (1866-1942) was an Irish portrait painter, art collector, and translator. He was a man of many talents. He was an excellent interpreter, art translator, and art historian. His works reflect his diverse life experiences, from the hardships of his native Ireland to the joys of modern art.
Known for his female subjects, Jervas established himself as a renowned portrait painter in London. His female portraits often depicted fashionable sitters in a pastoral setting, often with rural characters such as shepherdesses and sheep. One of his most celebrated paintings is a double portrait of Martha and Teresa Blount. The artist was eventually replaced by Michael Dahl, but he was closely associated with the leading literary figures of the day, including Alexander Pope.
His life and career were filled with achievements. He studied with Sir Godfrey Kneller and had a prolific literary output in London and Ireland. He also became close with Alexander Pope, and in fact taught the poet a number of times at Cleveland Court in St James's. Despite the fact that his life and work were widely dissected, his literary output has been celebrated, including a new translation of Cervantes' Don Quixote (1742).
