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| Image | Sale date | Auction house | Location | Sale name | Lot No. | Estimate | Price Sold | Condition | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jul 7, 2021 | Bonhams | London, New Bond Street | Old Master Paintings | 33 | Estimates not disclosed | Portrait of Sir James Graham, bust-length, in a blue coat |
paintings
62.3 x 47.6 cm (24.53 x 18.74 in)
oil on canvas, unlined
By direct descent from the sitter to the present owner
Memoria delle pitture fatte d"Angelica Kauffman dopo suo ritorno d"Inghilterra che fu nell mese d"otobre 1781 che si trovo a Venezia , unpublished manuscript, Royal Academy of Arts, London (the sitter paid 24 zecchini)
Dr. G.C. Williamson and Lady V. Manners, Angelica Kauffmann, R. A., Her Life and Her Works, London, 1924, pp. 63-4, 144, 190
J. Ingammels, A Dictionary of British and Irish Travellers in Italy 1701-1800 , New Haven and London, 1997, p. 416
C. Knight (ed.), La "Memoria delle piture [sic]" di Angelica Kauffman , Rome and London, 1998, cat. no. 56, p. 17
J. Black, The British abroad, the Grand Tour in the eighteenth century , 2003, pp. 198-9, 281
James Graham (1761-1824) was created 1st Baronet Netherby in 1783, the year he travelled through France and Switzerland to Rome in the company of his friend the Rev. Thomas Brand (c.1751-1814) where they both sat to Angelica Kauffman. We have an account of their journey through the letters of Brand who provides an interesting insight into 18th century travel. He writes that in Genoa they went to an opera buffa : for many grand tourists music was a significant part of the attraction to visiting Italy which very much dominated the operatic scene at the time. Graham and Brand went to Modena expressly to hear the renowned castrato Luigi Marchesi (1754-1829) sing. Their tour took them to Turin, Piacenza, Parma, Modena and Bologna before they went on to Rome early in December where this portrait was painted.
From Rome they progressed to Naples in January 1784 where Graham fell ill with a violent fever. His inclination was to seek the help of an English doctor, though Brand deemed the man in question a quack, noting tartly that "he had no confidence in himself and would have prescribed anything that I proposed...Lady Warren"s maid died under his care". Fortunately he persuaded his companion to consult the Neapolitan physician Cirillo who cured him. They were back in Rome by March and progressed to Florence and Venice where Graham sat for a second portrait, this time by the Irish artist Hugh Douglas Hamilton.
On his return to England Graham represented Ripon in the House of Commons supporting Pitt, and the year after he was raised to the baronetcy he married Lady Catherine Stewart, daughter of the 7th Earl of Galloway. Their son, Sir James Graham (1792-1861) was to have a distinguished political career advising the Prime Minister, Robert Peel, and holding office both as 1st Lord of the Admiralty and Home Secretary.
Angelica Kauffman (Coire 1741-1807 Rome)
Portrait of Sir James Graham, bust-length, in a blue coat
oil on canvas, unlined
62.3 x 47.6cm (24 1/2 x 18 3/4in).
