William Graham

British, 1817 - 1885

Explore Selected Works

A pale-skinned man sits, holding an open book next to his lap so the pages face us in this square painting. His body is angled to our right, and he turns his head farther in that direction, so his face is in profile. He has heavy brows, high cheekbones, and a prominent, hooked nose. His lower lip projects beyond his thin upper lip, and his chin juts out. He is lit from our right, so the hollows of his cheeks are in shadow. A vivid red cap encircled by a wreath of laurel leaves covers his dark hair. His long, cranberry-red robe splits over the shoulders to show navy-blue sleeves. His left hand, farther from us, braces the top of the open book, which comes up to chest height. A poem written in verses of three lines each in Italian can be read on both pages. The man’s other hand is lifted and hovers, palm down, over a miniature skyline by his side. The buildings there include a dome with a pointed lantern and two towers. A lighter tan area in the lower left corner, beneath the skyline, is difficult to interpret. The man sits on a grassy outcropping, which is mostly lost in the shadows. A body of blue water stretches into the distance beyond the outcropping to meet a conical mountain layered like a cake with ten sections. Trees grow on the narrowest, topmost level, and flames line the second level. A boat, tiny in scale, sails across the water near a grassy, zigzagging shore in the distance. Light from the upper right creates a creamy yellow beam across the otherwise darkened sky.
Florentine 16th Century, Allegorical Portrait of Dante, late 16th century, oil on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1961.9.57

Allegorical Portrait of Dante

Florentine 16th Century · late 16th century · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1961.9.57

Benedetto Diana, The Presentation and Marriage of the Virgin, and the Annunciation, 1520/1525, oil on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1961.9.70

The Presentation and Marriage of the Virgin, and the Annunciation

Benedetto Diana · 1520/1525 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1961.9.70

A pale, nearly nude young woman perches on a rock under a tree surrounded by small animals including dogs, deer, and birds, in this horizontal landscape painting. Her body faces us as, lips parted, she looks away to our left. She is covered only by an olive-green drape over her left thigh, on our right. She cradles what appears to be a tall stone tablet in her left arm and touches the inscribed surface with her right hand. White, buttercup-yellow, and crimson-red flowers crown her long blond hair. Her smooth pink skin stands out against the brown bark of the tree trunk behind her. By her right knee, a small brown doe stands looking at her. Closer to us, a white, wading bird dips its beak into a pool of water in the lower right corner of the painting. A large book of diagrams lies open next to the woman's foot, on the slate-gray ground. A small, white dog crouches next to the book on our right in front of a sleek, brown dog and a buck with antlers, and all face the woman in profile. In the trees above, a white hawk perches near the upper right corner of the canvas, and an owl sits on a branch over the woman’s head. Beyond the woman to our left, a steep bank is topped by wispy trees and shrubs. A sandy path meanders past the bank toward a wooden building in the distance. Delicate trees with rust-red and gold canopies frame the building, while a topaz-blue haze behind it suggests a forest beyond. Full, gray clouds fill the sky overhead above a band of pale light on the horizon.
Dosso Dossi, Circe and Her Lovers in a Landscape, c. 1525, oil on canvas, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1943.4.49

Circe and Her Lovers in a Landscape

Dosso Dossi · c. 1525 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1943.4.49

Shown from the chest up against a dark, teal-blue background, a light-skinned woman looks off to our left left in this vertical portrait painting. Her arms extend slightly in front of her, as if they rest on her knee. Her face turns almost in profile to our left as she gazes in that direction with hooded light brown eyes under curved brows. She has a sloping nose, a pointed chin, and her thin, light pink lips are closed. A white covering over her hair, which has been pulled back and up, is layered under a translucent ivory-white veil that covers her forehead and the sides of her face. A charcoal-gray stripe on the veil creates a line from her cheek to the back of her head. Her dress has a black bodice and sleeves, and the chest and the tops of her shoulders are covered with another veil. A patch of burgundy red shows through where the dress is laced up over the chest.
Domenico Ghirlandaio, Lucrezia Tornabuoni, c. 1475, tempera and oil on poplar panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1952.5.62

Lucrezia Tornabuoni

Domenico Ghirlandaio · c. 1475 · tempera and oil on poplar panel ·  Accession ID  1952.5.62

Shown from the chest up behind a stone ledge, a light-skinned man with a mustache, beard, and shoulder-length brown hair, wearing a black garment with voluminous sleeves, tilts his head back to look at us from the corners of his eyes in this vertical portrait painting. His body is angled to our left but he tips his head back to look past his rounded nose at us with dark eyes from under arched brows. His right fist, on our left, rests on a closed book bound in moss green, which is fastened with a metal clasp. The book rests on the ivory-white stone ledge, which steps up to a higher level to our right. He clenches a wad of nickel-gray cloth in the hand on the book, and his other arm rests by his side, extending out of view behind the ledge. His black, long-sleeved jacket has full sleeves and is open at the neck over a collarless white shirt. A squared opening is cut into the elephant-gray stone wall behind him to our left. A cityscape beneath a pale blue sky is visible in the distance out the window. The Roman characters “VVO” appear to be carved into the front face of the ledge, at the bottom edge of the canvas.
Cariani, Portrait of a Venetian Gentleman, c. 1510/1515, oil on canvas, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1939.1.258

Portrait of a Venetian Gentleman

Cariani · c. 1510/1515 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1939.1.258

Shown from the waist up, a young woman embraces a baby in this vertical painting. They both have peachy skin, reddish-blond hair, and round faces. The woman is angled to our left and almost takes up the height of the painting. She looks down with gray eyes through lowered lids, under slender, arched brows. She has a straight nose and her pale pink lips are closed. Barely visible, a thin dotted white line spans her brow. A few loose, copper-colored tendrils frame her face under an azure-blue mantle that drapes over her head, shoulders, and arms. Under the mantle she wears a brick-red robe with a stylized, plant-like pattern in gold on the upper bodice and the cuff we can see. Her left elbow, on our right, rests on a sage-green ledge that runs along the bottom edge of the composition, and that hand dangles over the child’s leg. Her other hand curves around the baby’s back. The child is turned to our right to face the woman. He is wrapped in a cloak the same red as the woman's robe, and it has a thin gold border. He sits on a kelly-green cushion resting along the left side of the ledge. His head is turned to gaze off to our right with large hazel eyes under thin brows. He has a button nose and a rosy flush around his small pink mouth, which is slightly open. His right hand dips into the woman’s neckline while the other arm embraces her neck. His right leg stretches out toward her so one pudgy foot peeks out from under the red cloth. The horizon of the landscape behind them comes halfway up the painting. Sloping fields are dotted with trees. Low hills are ice blue in the hazy distance along the horizon, and the sky above is nearly white near the mountains, deepening to pale blue along the top edge.
Antonello da Messina, Madonna and Child, c. 1475, oil and tempera on panel transferred from panel, Andrew W. Mellon Collection, 1937.1.30

Madonna and Child

Antonello da Messina · c. 1475 · oil and tempera on panel transferred from panel ·  Accession ID  1937.1.30

John William North, The Hayloft, 1867, watercolor with gouache and scratching out on wove paper, laid down on board, William B. O'Neal Fund, 2016.65.3

The Hayloft

John William North · 1867 · watercolor with gouache and scratching out on wove paper, laid down on board ·  Accession ID  2016.65.3

Bibliography

2000

  • Garnett, Oliver. "The Letters and Collection of William Graham -- Pre-Raphaelite Patron and Pre-Raphael Collector." The Walpole Society 62 (2000): 145-343.