The Duke of Wellington
c. 1812
Painter
West Building Main Floor, Gallery 52
Artwork overview
-
Medium
oil on canvas
-
Credit Line
-
Dimensions
overall: 105.5 x 83.7 cm (41 9/16 x 32 15/16 in.)
framed: 118.1 x 96.8 cm (46 1/2 x 38 1/8 in.) -
Accession
1963.4.1
Artwork history & notes
Provenance
Probably Miguel de Alava [1771-1843], Vitoria, Spain;[1] Ricardo Alava, Madrid; sold c. 1902 to (Joseph Wicht, Madrid); sold in 1902 through Mary Cassatt to Henry Osborne Havemeyer [1847-1907], New York;[2] his widow, Louisine W. Havemeyer, [née Elder, 1855-1929], New York; by descent to their daughter, Mrs. P.H.B. Frelinghuysen [née Adaline Havemeyer, 1884-1963], Morristown, New Jersey; gift 1963 to NGA.
[1] Aureliano de Beruete, Goya, pintor de retratos, English ed., Boston and New York, 1922: 148-149: "This portrait was in the possession of the descendants of the General Alava, who fought at Wellington's side against the French, which makes us think it was either a present from the general to his companion at arms, or a commission of the Spanish soldiers who wished to have the portrait of his general-in-chief."
[2] Louisine W. Havemeyer, Sixteen to Sixty: Memoirs of a Collector , New York, 1961: 153, 156-157, refers to Wicht as "W." Copies of the correspondence between Wicht and Mary Cassatt, Havemeyer's agent, are in the NGA curatorial files.
Associated Names
Exhibition History
1912
Loan Exhibition of Paintings by El Greco and Goya, M. Knoedler & Co., Inc., New York, 1912, no. 14, as by Goya.
1941
Paintings, Drawings and Prints: The Art of Goya, The Art Institute of Chicago, 1941, no. 83, as by Goya.
1955
Goya; Drawings and Prints, Smithsonian Institution, traveling exhibition, 1955, no. 187, as by Goya (cat. suppl. for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York).
1962
On loan to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1962-1963, no cat.
1986
Goya: The Condesa de Chinchón and Other Paintings, Drawings, and Prints from Spanish and American Private Collections and the National Gallery of Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1986-1987, unpaginated brochure.
1988
La Alianza de Dos Monarquías: Wellington y España, Museo Municipal, Madrid, 1988, 161, color repro. 162, 376-377, no. 4.1.13.
1993
Napoleon, Grand Exhibition Hall, Memphis Cook Convention Center, 1993, no catalogue entry.
2021
Americans in Spain: Painting and Travel, 1820-1920, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk; Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, 2021, no. 3, repro.
Bibliography
1908
Calvert, Albert. Goya: An Account of His Life and Works. London, 1908: 142, no. 253.
1916
Beruete y Moret, Aureliano de. Goya, pintor de retratos. Madrid, 1915: 122-123, no. 243, pl. 45 (also English ed. Translated by Selwyn Brinton. London, 1922: 148-149, no. 251, pl. 45).
1924
Mayer, August L. Francisco de Goya. Munich, 1923 (English ed. Translated by Robert West [pseud.]. London, 1924: 67, no. 450, fig. 228).
1928
Desparmet Fitz-Gerald, Xavier. L'oeuvre peint de Goya. 4 vols. Paris, 1928-1950: 2:190, no. 477, pl. 394.
1931
H.O. Havemeyer Collection. Catalogue of Paintings, Prints, Sculpture and Objects of Art. Portland, Maine, 1931: 318, repro. 319.
1951
Sánchez Cantón, Francisco Javier. Vida y obras de Goya. madrid, 1951: 96. Translated by Paul Burns, Madrid, 1964.
1961
Havemeyer, Louisine W. Sixteen to Sixty: Memoirs of a Collector. New York, 1961: 156-157.
1963
Brooke, Humphrey, ed. Goya and His Times. Exh. cat. Royal Academy of Arts. London, 1963: 61 (by Nigel Glendinning).
1964
Trapier, Elizabeth de Gué. Goya and His Sitters. New York, 1964: 38, no. 68, pls. 68, 70.
1965
Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 61, as by Goya.
1966
Braham, Allan. "Goya's Equestrian Portrait of the Duke of Wellington." The Burlington Magazine 108 (December, 1966): 618-621, appendix.
1968
National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 53, repro., as by Goya.
1969
Harris, Enriqueta. Goya. London, 1969: 87-88.
1970
Gassier, Pierre, and Juliet Wilson. Vie et oeuvre de Francisco Goya. Paris, 1970: 254, no. 900, repro. 262 (also English ed. Translated by C. Hauch and J. Wilson. New York, 1971).
1971
Gudiol y Ricart, José. Goya: 1746-1828; Biography, Analytical Study and Catalogue of His Paintings. Translated by Kenneth Lyons. 4 vols. New York, 1971: 1:146, 316, no. 558; 4:fig. 903.
1975
European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 160, repro., as by Goya.
1984
Camón Aznar, José. Francisco de Goya. 4 vols. Saragossa, 1984: 3:198.
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 404, no. 575, color repro.
1985
European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 184, repro.
1990
Brown, Jonathan, and Richard G. Mann. Spanish Paintings of the Fifteenth through Nineteenth Centuries. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1990: 37-41, repro. 39.
Inscriptions
in another hand, lower left: A. W. Terror Gallorum (A[rthur] W[ellesley] Terror of the French)
Wikidata ID
Q20183364