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Overview

Information on this painting can be found in the Gallery publication American Paintings of the Eighteenth Century, pages 172-177, which is available as a free PDF https://www.nga.gov/content/dam/ngaweb/research/publications/pdfs/american-paintings-18th-century.pdf

Provenance

Commissioned by John Boydell [1719-1804], London; probably inherited by his nephew and business partner, Josiah Boydell [1752-1817], London. Possibly sold by an unidentified consigner at (Greenwood & Co., London, 3 April 1806, no. 49) and (Greenwood & Co., London, 21 May 1807, no. 40), purchaser not recorded.[1] Murrough O'Brien, 5th Earl of Inchiquin and 1st Marquis of Thomond [d. 1808];[2] by descent to his nephew, James O'Brien, 7th Earl of Inchiquin and 3rd Marquis of Thomond [1769-1855], Bath.[3] (T.H. Robinson, London, and M. Knoedler & Co., New York), October 1919; sold 11 December 1919 to Thomas B. Clarke [1848-1931], New York;[4] his estate; sold as part of the Clarke collection on 29 January 1936, through (M. Knoedler & Co., New York) to The A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, Pittsburgh; gift 1942 to NGA.

Exhibition History

1786
John Boydell's Gallery, London, 1786.
1792
Possibly Boydell's Shakespeare Gallery, London, 1792-1802.
1922
Portraits Painted in Europe by Early American Artists, The Union League Club, New York, January 1922, no. 1.
1928
Portraits by Early American Artists of the Seventeenth, Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries, Collected by Thomas B. Clarke, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1928-1931, unnumbered and unpaginated catalogue.
1944
Gilbert Stuart: Portraits Lent by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 1944-1945, no. 1.
1967
Gilbert Stuart, Portraitist of the Young Republic, National Gallery of Art; Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, 1967, no. 12.
2004
Gilbert Stuart, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; National Gallery of Art (for the National Portrait Gallery), Washington, D.C., 2004-2005, no. 14, repro.

Bibliography

1784
Sir Joshua Reynolds' Diary, 1784, at the Royal Academy of Arts, London
1786
"Fabius." "The Arts. No. II. Alderman Boydell's Gallery." The Morning Post, and Daily Advertiser. 14 November 1786: 2.
1792
Felton, Samuel. Testimonies to the Genius and Memory of Sir Joshua Reynolds. London, 1792: 67.
1804
"Monthly Retrospect of the Fine Arts." Monthly Magazine; or British Register 17 (1 July 1804): 595.
1855
Beechy, Henry William, ed. The Literary Works of Sir Joshua Renolds, First President of the Royal Academy. Rev. ed., 2 vols. London, 1855:1:frontispiece, engraving by E. Scriven, 300.
1865
Leslie, Charles Robert and Tom Taylor. Life and Times of Sir Joshua Reynolds, with Notices of some of his Contemporaries. 2 vols. London, 1865:2:468
1869
Dunlap, William. A History of the Rise and Progress of The Arts of Design in the United States. 2 vols. Reprinted in 3. New York, 1969 (1834): 1:184, 219.
1877
Stuart, Jane. "The Youth of Gilbert Stuart." Scribner's Monthly 13, no. 5 (March 1877):644
1879
Mason, George C. The Life and Works of Gilbert Stuart. New York, 1879: 248.
1880
MFA 1880, 52, no. 508
1913
Strickland, Walter G. A Dictionary of Irish Artists. 2 vols. Dublin and London, 1913: 2:416
1922
Sherman, Frederick Fairchild. "Current Comment: Exhibitions." ArtAm 10, no. 3 (April, 1922):139 repro., 143-144.
1926
Park 1926, 641-642, no. 702, repro.
1928
Portraits by Early American Artists of the Seventeenth, Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries, Collected by Thomas B. Clarke. Exh. cat. Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1928, unnumbered.
1932
Whitley 1932, 46-47, 55-56
1949
Paintings and Sculpture from the Mellon Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1949 (reprinted 1953 and 1958): 133, repro.
1959
Mount, Charles Merril. "A Hidden Treasure in Britain." The Art Quarterly 22, no. 3 (Autumn, 1959): 220, 223
1964
Mount 1964, 90, 362
1970
American Paintings and Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970: 104, repro.
1974
Bruntjen, Hermann Arnold. John Boydell (1719-1804): A Study of Art Patronage and Publishing in Georgian London. Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1974:28-29, 36, 58, 63
1975
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1975: 382, color repro.
1980
American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 233, repro.
1981
Williams, William James. A Heritage of American Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1981: color repro. 50, 62.
1984
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 378, no. 534, color repro.
1985
Bruntjen, Sven H. A. John Boydell (1719-1804): A Study of Art Patronage and Publishing in Georgian London. New York and London, 1985: 28-29. 36, 58, 63.
1986
McLanathan, Richard. Gilbert Stuart. New York, 1986:51, 54, color repro.
1990
Harris, Eileen. "Robert Adam's Ornament for Alderman Boydell's Picture Frames." Furniture History: The Journal of the Furniture History Society. 26 (1990): 93-96, figs. 1-3
1992
American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 346, repro.
1993
Rather, Susan. "Stuart and Reynolds: A Portrait of Challenge." Eighteenth-Century Studies 27, no. 1 (Fall 1993): 61-84.
1995
Miles, Ellen G. American Paintings of the Eighteenth Century. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1995: 172-177, color repro. 175.
2000
Kirsh, Andrea, and Rustin S. Levenson. Seeing Through Paintings: Physical Examination in Art Historical Studies. Materials and Meaning in the Fine Arts 1. New Haven, 2000: 262.
2016
Rather, Susan. The American School: Artists and Status in the Late Colonial and Early National Era. New Haven, 2016: 172-174, color fig. 128.

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