Portrait of a Gentleman Netting Partridges, 1756

Not on View

Medium

oil on canvas

Dimensions

overall: 69.9 x 97.8 cm (27 1/2 x 38 1/2 in.)

framed: 83.8 x 103.5 x 5.4 cm (33 x 40 3/4 x 2 1/8 in.)

Credit Line

Paul Mellon Collection

Accession Number

1964.2.3

Artists / Makers

Arthur Devis (artist) British, 1712 - 1787

Image Use

This image is in the public domain.
Read our full Open Access policy for images .

Inscription

lower center: Art: Devis fe/1756

Provenance

Miss P.A. Hatcher; (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 29 June 1951, no. 132, as Portrait of a Sportsman, bought in); (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 18 June 1954, no. 142, as Lord Brand, of Hurndall Park); purchased by (Edward Speelman, London); sold 1960 to Paul Mellon, Upperville, Virginia; gift 1964 to NGA.

Associated Names

Christie, Manson & Woods, Ltd.
Hatcher, P.A., Miss
Mellon, Paul
Speelman Ltd., Edward

Exhibition History

1964: Extended loan for use by Ambassador David K.E. Bruce, U.S. Embassy residence, London, England, 1964-1969 (on loan to Embassy when given to NGA; lent prior to 1964 by Paul Mellon).

1970: Extended loan for use by the Ambassador, U.S. Embassy residence, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, 1970-1974.

1980: The Conversation Piece: Arthur Devis & His Contemporaries, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, 1980, no. 33, repro., (cat. by Ellen G. D'Oench).

Technical Summary

The medium-weight canvas is plain woven fairly loosely; it has been lined. The painting appears to have been cut down along the left and bottom edges. The ground is cream colored, smoothly applied and moderately thick, masking the weave of the linen. There is a light brown imprimatura. The painting is executed in thin, smooth layers, mostly in opaque paint but with transparent glazes for the darkest greens and deep browns. The paint surface has been severely abraded, and there are numerous losses and heavy retouching, especially in the sky. The thick natural resin varnish has discolored yellow slightly.

Bibliography

1965: Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 41, as Lord Brand of Hurndall Park.

1968: National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 34, repro., as Lord Brand of Hurndall Park.

1975: European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 106, repro., as Lord Brand of Hurndall Park.

1975: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1975: no. 520, color repro.

1985: European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 129, repro.

1992: Hayes, John. British Paintings of the Sixteenth through Nineteenth Centuries. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1992: 60-61, repro. 61.