1786 in art

Events from the year 1786 in art.

Events

 * November – Boydell Shakespeare Gallery inaugurated in London.
 * Francisco Goya is appointed court painter to King Charles III of Spain.

Works

 * Mather Brown – Portraits of Thomas Jefferson and Charles Bulfinch
 * Thomas Gainsborough – Lavinia (The Milk Maid)
 * Ozias Humphry – Portrait of Hyder Beg Khan
 * Louise Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun
 * Mademoiselle Sophie
 * Self-portrait in a Turban with Julie
 * Jean-Laurent Mosnier – Self-portrait
 * Nagasawa Rosetsu
 * Tiger Fusuma
 * Dragon Fusuma
 * Joshua Reynolds
 * Admiral Sir Edward Hughes
 * Dr. John Hunter seated in his museum
 * John Trumbull
 * The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker's Hill, June 17, 1775
 * The Death of General Montgomery in the Attack on Quebec, December 31, 1775
 * Johann Zoffany – Colonel Antoine Polier, Claud Martin and John Wombwell with the Artist

Births

 * January 26 – Benjamin Haydon, English historical painter and writer (suicide 1846)
 * April 1 – William Mulready, Irish genre painter of rural scenes (died 1863)
 * April 16 – Albrecht Adam, painter (died 1862)
 * June 3 – Kim Jeong-hui, calligrapher, epigraphist, and scholar of Korea's later Joseon period (died 1856)
 * July 5 – Charles Alfred Stothard, historical draughtsman (died 1821)
 * July 9 – Rudolph Schadow, German sculptor (died 1822)
 * August 8 – Bengt Erland Fogelberg, Swedish sculptor (died 1854)
 * August 28 – Ferdinand Piloty, lithographer (died 1844)
 * September 28 – Johann Michael Sattler, Austrian portrait and landscape painter (died 1847)
 * October 10 – François-Édouard Picot, French historic painter (died 1868)
 * November 23 – František Tkadlík, Czech painter (died 1840)
 * date unknown
 * Jean Alaux, French history painter and Director of the French Academy in Rome (died 1864)
 * Julien-Honoré-Germain d'Aubuisson, French portrait and miniature painter (died 1860)
 * Georgije Bakalović, Serbian painter (died 1843)
 * Eugénie Honorée Marguerite Charen, French painter (died 1824)
 * Jean Augustin Daiwaille, Dutch portrait painter (died 1850)
 * William Derby, English miniature painter and copyist (died 1847)
 * John Fischer, German portrait, miniature, and landscape painter (died 1875)
 * James Frothingham, American painter (died 1864)
 * Kunisada, Japanese designer of ukiyo-e woodblock prints (died 1865)
 * Abraham Wivell, British portrait painter, writer and pioneer of fire protection (died 1849)
 * probable
 * John Hayes, British portrait-painter (died 1866)

Deaths

 * January 8 – Johan Edvard Mandelberg, Swedish-born painter (born 1730)
 * January 12 – Claude-Henri Watelet, French fermier-général, amateur painter and writer on the arts (born 1718)
 * February 6 – Samuel Wale, English historical painter and book illustrator (born unknown)
 * February 17 – Thomas Beckwith, English painter, genealogist and antiquary (born 1731)
 * March 6 – Charles Germain de Saint Aubin, draftsman and embroidery designer to King Louis XV of France (born 1721)
 * March 18 – Jacob Bonneau, Anglo-French painter (date of birth unknown)
 * April 12 – Francesco Saverio Mergalo, Italian portrait painter (born 1746)
 * April 23 – Alexander Cozens, British landscape-painter in water-colours and teacher of painting (born 1717)
 * May 4 – Johann Kaspar Füssli, Swiss painter (born 1743)
 * June 21 – George Hepplewhite, English furniture designer (born 1727?)
 * July 14 – John Collier, English caricaturist and satirist (born 1708)
 * October 17 – Johann Ludwig Aberli, Swiss landscape painter and etcher (born 1723)
 * October 30 – William Duesbury, British enameller and entrepreneur (born 1725)
 * date unknown
 * Andrea-Salvatore Aglio, Italian sculptor and painter on marble (born 1736)
 * Johann Karl Auerbach, Austrian painter (born 1723)
 * Tilly Kettle, portrait painter (born 1735)