an English painter, one of the pioneers of English pastel painting, and a founding member of the Royal Academy in 1768. An admirer of the pastel drawings of Rosalba Carriera, Cotes concentrated on works in pastel and crayon (some of which became well known as engravings). After pushing crayon to its limit as a medium—although he was never to abandon it entirely—Cotes turned to oil painting as a means of developing his style in larger-scale works. In his most successful paintings, particularly those of the early 1760s, the oil paint is thinly applied, in imitation of his pastel technique, and imbued with charm.
