- 91
Sir Henry Raeburn R.A., P.R.S.A.
Estimate
15,000 - 20,000 USD
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Description
- Sir Henry Raeburn R.A.
- Portrait of Mr George Abercromby of Tullibody, Clackmannanshire (1705-1800)
- oil on canvas
- 49 1/2 by 39 1/2 in.
- 125.8 by 100.5 cm.
Provenance
By family descent to Lord Abercromby;
Sale, London, Christie's, 1911;
Mason;
Lord Cochrane of Cults;
His Sale, London, Christie's, November 20, 1970, Lot 178;
Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, June 18, 1971, Lot 56;
Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, November 24, 1972, Lot 2;
Anonymous sale: London, Christie's, November 25, 1977, lot 119;
Where purchased by Agnew's for the present owner.
Literature
J. Greig, Sir Henry Raeburn R.A., His Life and Works with a Catalogue of his Pictures, London 1911, p. 37;
D. Mackie, Raeburn Complete Catalogue, Life and Art, unpublished PhD Thesis, Edinburgh and Yale, 1994, 6 vols, vol. 2, number 2, reproduced vol. 5, plate 2.
D. Mackie, Raeburn Complete Catalogue, Life and Art, unpublished PhD Thesis, Edinburgh and Yale, 1994, 6 vols, vol. 2, number 2, reproduced vol. 5, plate 2.
Condition
The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com , an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's.
This painting by Raeburn is in very good condition. The canvas has been lined using wax as an adhesive. The paint layer has been cleaned and varnished.
The condition of the paint layer seems to be marvelous with no retouches to speak of visible under ultraviolet light, and although it is possible that there may be a couple, it seems highly unlikely. For a large picture of this period by any artist, the condition here is particularly noteworthy.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."
Catalogue Note
This major Raeburn portrait (Mackie number 2) appeared in the early literature only once, simply as a listed work, and seems never to have been published prior to this sale, nor to have received scholarly scrutiny outwith the complete catalogue. But this is true of most of Raeburn's paintings.
Raeburn was formed by his study of Baroque art in Rome and from his return to Edinburgh in circa 1787 a primary concern in his portraiture is the creation of psychological effects, often heightened by dramatic lighting arrangements, to enable him to depict character and inner life. In this portrait, cleavages in this elderly sitter's consciousness seem to have occurred and the sitter even seems aware of them. Joy, pleasure and delight in life are over. Could Mr Abercromby perhaps also be blind? One can easily imagine difficulties in painting an unwell, elderly gentleman and Mr Abercromby's health may explain some aspects of this portrait. Areas of the work show unusually abbreviated handling, for instance in the curls of the wig. Might this be an indication of the need for a speedy conclusion to the commission? Before the complete catalogue was finished, nobody could date Raeburn's work. It is still sometimes very difficult, as in this case. It would be unwise to be confident but, on the basis of the palette, this portrait could be as early as circa 1792-3. But given Mr Abercromby's date of death, one hopes that this date is wrong. Walter Pater's essay of 1870 on Botticelli comes to mind. Pater said that Botticelli passed "almost out of men's sight in a sort of religious melancholia which lasted until his death in 1515, according to the received date .... and one almost wishes that some document might come to light, which, fixing the date of his death earlier, might relieve one, in thinking of him, of his dejected old age." Similarly, one hopes here that either the portrait is of the later 1790s, or that Mr Abercromby's recorded date of death is wrong. Little is known of the sitter; Mr Abercromby was outshone by two famous sons. The first was General Sir Ralph Abercromby (1734-1801), whose portrait by Hoppner is well known from the many engravings it engendered. The General, incidentally, had very poor eyesight and needed a subordinate to describe to him the events on the field of battle. Another son was the eminent Scots lawyer and man of letters, Lord Alexander Abercromby of Tullibody (1745-1795) (Mackie number 1, numerous versions). The General was born in Clackmannanshire and was educated at Rugby, Edinburgh and Leipzig, indicating a cultivated, gentry-class Scottish family with an international outlook. Two other major Raeburn portraits come from Clackmannanshire. The first is John Johnstone of Alva with his Sister and Niece and and the second is Mr Tait of Harviestoun with his Grandson (both National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Mackie numbers 437 and 697 respectively). All three canvases are separated by only a few years and the sitters' estates by only three or four miles.
Mr Abercromby's portrait is close in date to a portrait which has become one of the most famous images of our time, Raeburn's Rev. Robert Walker Skating on Duddindgston Loch (National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh, Mackie number 731). Together they form an exceptional contrast. Rev. Walker's appeal rests largely on his serene contentment and solitary ease; he is shown alone enjoying his winter pursuit. The depiction of the isolation of Mr Abercromby is, in this writer's view, of an entirely more profound and rarer order in art. In depicting inner life, Raeburn never again approached this extreme.
The standard introductory texts on art history when dealing with Romanticism turn unfailingly to the portraits of the inmates of madhouses by Theodore Gericault (1791-1824). This portrait by Raeburn displays similar artistic and social concerns. Yet it was painted when Gericault was a child, possibly when he was learning to walk. A future writer interested in reinvigorating the written history of the Romantic movement might like to turn to this portrait of Mr Abercromby to aid in the creation a fresh and less cliched account.
This is a humane and sympathetic portrait of advancing isolation: the human mind seems to meditate only on its own conclusion. As life expectancy of the body advances while neuronal collapse continues, this masterpiece by Raeburn, some two hundred years old, becomes a portrait of our age.
David Mackie
University of Cambridge.
Raeburn was formed by his study of Baroque art in Rome and from his return to Edinburgh in circa 1787 a primary concern in his portraiture is the creation of psychological effects, often heightened by dramatic lighting arrangements, to enable him to depict character and inner life. In this portrait, cleavages in this elderly sitter's consciousness seem to have occurred and the sitter even seems aware of them. Joy, pleasure and delight in life are over. Could Mr Abercromby perhaps also be blind? One can easily imagine difficulties in painting an unwell, elderly gentleman and Mr Abercromby's health may explain some aspects of this portrait. Areas of the work show unusually abbreviated handling, for instance in the curls of the wig. Might this be an indication of the need for a speedy conclusion to the commission? Before the complete catalogue was finished, nobody could date Raeburn's work. It is still sometimes very difficult, as in this case. It would be unwise to be confident but, on the basis of the palette, this portrait could be as early as circa 1792-3. But given Mr Abercromby's date of death, one hopes that this date is wrong. Walter Pater's essay of 1870 on Botticelli comes to mind. Pater said that Botticelli passed "almost out of men's sight in a sort of religious melancholia which lasted until his death in 1515, according to the received date .... and one almost wishes that some document might come to light, which, fixing the date of his death earlier, might relieve one, in thinking of him, of his dejected old age." Similarly, one hopes here that either the portrait is of the later 1790s, or that Mr Abercromby's recorded date of death is wrong. Little is known of the sitter; Mr Abercromby was outshone by two famous sons. The first was General Sir Ralph Abercromby (1734-1801), whose portrait by Hoppner is well known from the many engravings it engendered. The General, incidentally, had very poor eyesight and needed a subordinate to describe to him the events on the field of battle. Another son was the eminent Scots lawyer and man of letters, Lord Alexander Abercromby of Tullibody (1745-1795) (Mackie number 1, numerous versions). The General was born in Clackmannanshire and was educated at Rugby, Edinburgh and Leipzig, indicating a cultivated, gentry-class Scottish family with an international outlook. Two other major Raeburn portraits come from Clackmannanshire. The first is John Johnstone of Alva with his Sister and Niece and and the second is Mr Tait of Harviestoun with his Grandson (both National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Mackie numbers 437 and 697 respectively). All three canvases are separated by only a few years and the sitters' estates by only three or four miles.
Mr Abercromby's portrait is close in date to a portrait which has become one of the most famous images of our time, Raeburn's Rev. Robert Walker Skating on Duddindgston Loch (National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh, Mackie number 731). Together they form an exceptional contrast. Rev. Walker's appeal rests largely on his serene contentment and solitary ease; he is shown alone enjoying his winter pursuit. The depiction of the isolation of Mr Abercromby is, in this writer's view, of an entirely more profound and rarer order in art. In depicting inner life, Raeburn never again approached this extreme.
The standard introductory texts on art history when dealing with Romanticism turn unfailingly to the portraits of the inmates of madhouses by Theodore Gericault (1791-1824). This portrait by Raeburn displays similar artistic and social concerns. Yet it was painted when Gericault was a child, possibly when he was learning to walk. A future writer interested in reinvigorating the written history of the Romantic movement might like to turn to this portrait of Mr Abercromby to aid in the creation a fresh and less cliched account.
This is a humane and sympathetic portrait of advancing isolation: the human mind seems to meditate only on its own conclusion. As life expectancy of the body advances while neuronal collapse continues, this masterpiece by Raeburn, some two hundred years old, becomes a portrait of our age.
David Mackie
University of Cambridge.