Sir Henry Raeburn

Scottish, 1756 - 1823

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British portrait painter (1756-1823)

Explore Selected Works

Two young boys sit side by side on some boulders with a cloudy sky behind them and dark tree branches above in this vertical portrait painting. The boys both have pale skin with flushed, round cheeks, short, light brown hair, and brown eyes. They wear matching russet-brown suits with rows of gold-colored buttons on their chests and white ruffles that pop out of their collars, white stockings, and black, laced up shoes. The boy on our right looks at us with his right hand on the other boy’s shoulder. That second boy sits on a lower rock and looks up at the first while draping one arm over the first boy’s lap. The second boy holds a plum-purple and powder-blue hat in one hand and a stick with a rope attached, perhaps a whip, in the other. Another hat lies on a boulder under the rope. A few crisp sage-green, deep yellow, and brown leaves have fallen to the ground at the boys' feet. The tree above and distant landscape beyond are loosely painted in hazy tones of yellow, smoky green, brown, and slate blue.
Sir Henry Raeburn, The Binning Children, probably c. 1811, oil on canvas, Given in memory of John Woodruff Simpson, 1942.5.2

The Binning Children

Sir Henry Raeburn · probably c. 1811 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1942.5.2

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Mrs. Vere of Stonebyres

Sir Henry Raeburn · c. 1805 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  2014.136.40

Sir Henry Raeburn, Miss Davidson Reid, c. 1800/1806, oil on canvas, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection, 1970.17.131

Miss Davidson Reid

Sir Henry Raeburn · c. 1800/1806 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1970.17.131

Sir Henry Raeburn, Colonel Francis James Scott, 1796/1811, oil on canvas, Andrew W. Mellon Collection, 1937.1.102

Colonel Francis James Scott

Sir Henry Raeburn · 1796/1811 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1937.1.102

Shown from the knees up, an older man sits in a rustic wooden chair and holds up a pocket watch for a young child who stands at his knees in this vertical portrait painting. They both have pale, peachy skin with flushed cheeks. They are lit from our upper left so the man’s face is partly in shadow while light pours onto the child’s upturned face. The man’s body is angled to our right, almost in profile, but he turns his head to look at us with dark eyes under heavy brows. His has a bulbous nose, lined cheeks, and a heavy jowl around thin lips, which are closed in a line. His light gray, wavy hair is tied back at the nape of his neck. He wears a black coat with a high collar and tightly fitting sleeves. A streak of white at his neck suggests a white shirt under the black, high-necked vest that covers his torso. He rests his right elbow, closer to us, on the arm of the chair so he can dangle a pocket watch in front of the child. The man’s knees disappear behind the child, who leans against his legs. The pocket watch is attached to a short gold chain, and the child holds up the fob, which is shaped like a Hershey’s Kiss candy, at the end of the chain. The young boy looks up at the watch with luminous, brown eyes. He has smooth, round cheeks, a short nose, and his pink lips are closed. The child has wavy, golden brown hair and his white garment has a squared neckline, short sleeves, and falls like a skirt off the bottom edge of the painting. The background behind the pair is painted with streaks of marigold orange, gold, and olive green to suggest trees against a sky painted with butter and harvest yellow, rust orange, and just a touch of pale blue at the upper left corner. The entire portrait is loosely painted, especially in the background, chair, and clothing.
Sir Henry Raeburn, John Tait and His Grandson, c. 1793, with additions c. 1800, oil on canvas, Andrew W. Mellon Collection, 1937.1.103

John Tait and His Grandson

Sir Henry Raeburn · c. 1793, with additions c. 1800 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1937.1.103

Shown from the hips up, a pale-skinned woman wearing white sits facing us against a golden-toned landscape background in this vertical portrait painting. The woman’s body is angled to our left, but she looks at us steadily from the corners of her large eyes. The slate-blue irises have some touches of hazel. Her cheeks are tinged with pink, she has a long nose, and her full pink lips are closed. Her ash-brown hair is pulled loosely back and falls in curls around her heart-shaped face. A translucent white ruffle flares around the neckline of her opal-white, long-sleeved dress. The bodice wraps across the front to a bow at her lower back. The landscape immediately behind her is loosely painted with gold and mustard yellow. Mountains in the deep distance along the horizon are painted broadly with smoky blue and purple. A band of plum-purple clouds stretches across the top of the painting in front of higher, pale yellow and blue clouds.
Sir Henry Raeburn, Miss Eleanor Urquhart, c. 1793, oil on canvas, Andrew W. Mellon Collection, 1937.1.101

Miss Eleanor Urquhart

Sir Henry Raeburn · c. 1793 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1937.1.101

Sir Henry Raeburn, John Johnstone, Betty Johnstone, and Miss Wedderburn, c. 1790/1795, oil on canvas, Gift of Mrs. Robert W. Schuette, 1945.10.3

John Johnstone, Betty Johnstone, and Miss Wedderburn

Sir Henry Raeburn · c. 1790/1795 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1945.10.3

Sir Henry Raeburn, Mrs. George Hill, c. 1790/1800, oil on canvas, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection, 1970.17.130

Mrs. George Hill

Sir Henry Raeburn · c. 1790/1800 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1970.17.130

Sir Henry Raeburn, David Anderson, 1790, oil on canvas, Widener Collection, 1942.9.56

David Anderson

Sir Henry Raeburn · 1790 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1942.9.56

Sir Henry Raeburn, Captain Patrick Miller, 1788/1789, altered later (date unknown), oil on canvas, Gift of Pauline Sabin Davis, 1948.19.1

Captain Patrick Miller

Sir Henry Raeburn · 1788/1789, altered later (date unknown) · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1948.19.1

Bibliography

1832

  • Cunningham, Allan. The Lives of the Most Eminent British Painters, Sculptors, and Architects. 6 vols. London, 1829-1833. Also 2d ed. London, 1837: 5:204-241.

1911

  • Greig, James. Sir Henry Raeburn, R.A.: His Life and Works. London, 1911.

1956

  • Baxandall, David. Raeburn. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh, 1956.

1966

  • Harris, Rose. Sir Henry Raeburn. The Master Series, no. 46. Paulton, near Bristol, 1966.

1975

  • Irwin, David, and Francina Irwin. Scottish Painters at Home and Abroad 1700-1900. London, 1975: 146-164.

1985

  • Thomson, Duncan. In The Treasures of Fyvie. Exh. cat. Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh, 1985: 54-61.

1986

  • Macmillan, Duncan. Painting in Scotland: The Golden Age. Exh. cat. Talbot Rice Art Centre, University of Edinburgh; Tate Gallery, London. Oxford, 1986: 74-136.

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: 187-188.