George Romney

J.H. Anderdon, by whom acquired from an unknown source in 1849;
His sale, London, Christie's, 31 May 1879, lot 232, to Hogarth for 41 Guineas;
J. Charlton Parr, 1900;
Probably by descent to Major M.C. Parr;
Sale, London, Christie's, 29 July 1949, lot 95, to Bellesi for £48 6 shillings;
There acquired by William Ball, Indianapolis, Indiana;
Thence by descent to the present owner.

Manchester, Art Treasures Exhibition, 1857;
London, British Institution, 1860, no. 193;
Leeds, National Exhibition of Works of Art, 1868;
London, Royal Academy, Old Masters, 1877, no. 196;
London, Grafton Gallery, Romney Exhibition, 1900, no. 87.

Sir H. Maxwell, George Romney, London 1902, p. 179, cat. no. 180;
T.H. Ward and W. Roberts, Romney, A Biographical and Critical Essay with a Catalogue Raisonné of his Works, London and New York 1904, vol. II, p. 183, under cat. no. 14, version b;
A. Kidson, George Romney, A Complete Catalogue of His Paintings, New Haven and London 2015, vol. III, pp. 682-83, under cat. no. 1493, version 1493a.

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 is a very quickly and richly painted work that has not been recently restored. The lining is old and good. The paint layer is quite dull. Under ultraviolet light, no retouches are visible except to a couple of cracks on the far right. It seems unlikely that further retouches beneath an old varnish would be revealed if and when the picture is cleaned. There are some fairly heavy cracks in the clothing of the figure which are neither raised nor disturbing. There is some texture in the deepest browns of the background in the upper right, in the hair on the right and in the lower left that is clearly attributable to bitumen, which was commonly used in the darker colors of this period. The work can be hung as is, or it could be freshly varnished or cleaned.
"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 bust-length depiction of Emma Hamilton as Joan of Arc may well be all that remains of Romney’s original whole-length painting of this subject (dimensions unknown) that was begun by Romney in 1791 and never finished.  That picture remained in the artist’s possession and was included in his posthumous studio sale in 1807.¹  The work is first mentioned in a letter in the summer of 1791 from Romney to his friend and biographer William Hayley (1745-1820) in which the artist discusses his plans to paint two Joan of Arc subjects, one depicting her with a torch in her hand.²

Why Romney’s original canvas might have been cut down is unknown but it seems possible that it could have been altered by a dealer, probably sometime in the 19th century, who wanted to make the picture more easily marketable.³  In the early 20th century, Ward and Roberts (see Literature) described the present painting as unfinished and as depicting Joan in blue and yellow drapery, with her right arm raised over her head; they concluded that it was probably all that remained of Romney’s original.  Though clearly not in the same state as it was when Ward and Roberts described it, Alex Kidson (see Literature) points out that this is likely due to the work having undergone different courses of repainting and reworking in its complex history.  What remains undisputedly by Romney’s hand is the very fine head, which still displays the artist’s original paint handling.  As Kidson points out, “Certainly Emma’s head itself, with its striking expression of heroic idealism, accords with Hayley’s description of it as ‘one of the finest, that he ever painted from the features of his favourite model.’”⁴

Another untraced canvas of the same size, last known from an auction in 1938, shows the figure of Joan including her upraised right arm and with other differences to the surface.  Despite this, Kidson believes it may be identifiable with the present work, although this would mean that a large amount of repaint was applied and then removed in the first half of the 20th century.⁵

 

1  London, Christie’s, 27 April 1807, lot 85, “Joan of Arc, a large Study.”
2  See A. Kidson, under Literature, under cat. no. 1493.
3. This may have been done even before James Anderdon, the first recorded owner (see Provenance) acquired it.  He believed it to be a preliminary sketch and inscribed the stretcher on the reverse:  Purchased May 1849. Romney’s sketch for a Joan of Arc rallying the troops at Rouen.
4.  See A. Kidson, under Literature, p. 683.
5.  See A. Kidson, under Literature, cat. no. 1493b, reproduced.