The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 26, 2024

Portrait of Mrs. George Collier

Portrait of Mrs. George Collier

18th century

follower of Joshua Reynolds

(British, 1723–1792)
England, 18th century
oil on canvas
Framed: 112 x 101 x 12 cm (44 1/8 x 39 3/4 x 4 3/4 in.); Unframed: 80 x 67.3 cm (31 1/2 x 26 1/2 in.)
Gift of J. H. Wade 1920.514
Location: not on view

Description

Given to the Cleveland Museum in 1920 by the collector Jeptha H. Wade, this painting was thought to be an authentic work by Joshua Reynolds. However, after considerable study, the museum attributed it to a follower of Reynolds working in a similar style around the same time. This portrait depicts the wife of the captain (and later admiral) George Collier. The artist draws an analogy between this woman and Lesbia, a married woman who provided much artistic inspiration for the Roman poet Catullus (c. 84–c. 54 BC). The poet's writings document a love affair with Lesbia, and one poem in particular documents the death of the woman's beloved pet sparrow. The viewer can barely see the sparrow in this painting, since it lies on a table partially obscured by her right elbow. The muted colors evoke a sense of melancholy as the woman mourns with her head turned away from the viewer.
  • (possibly Mary Horneck Gwynn, sister in law of the sitter (1823)
    Sir William W. Knighton, Hampshire (1864, Christie's, London sale 21 May, 1885, no. 457
    Mrs. Adelaide Ross
    J. H. Wade, Cleveland (by 1913)
    Possib;y Mrs. George Collier, possibly by inheritance to her sister-in-law, Mary Horneck Gwynn,
    Possibly Mary Horneck Gwynn
    William Wellesley Knighton, 2nd Bt., 1836-1855 (London, England, and Blendworth Lodge, Hampshire, England), upon his death, held in trust by the estate
    Estate of William Wellesley Knighton, sold, Christie's, London, May 21, 1885, lot 457
    Mrs. Adelaide Ross (Stachelberg, New York)
    Jeptha Homer Wade, 1857-1926 (Cleveland, Ohio), by gift to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1920.
  • "Recent Changes in the Painting Galleries." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 5, no. 2/3 (1918): 22-27. Mentioned: p. 25 25136174
    "Important Recent Gifts." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 7, no. 10 (1920): 157-58.
     Reproduced: Front Matter; Mentioned: pp. 157-158 www.jstor.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1925. Reproduced: p. 28 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1928. Reproduced: p. 35 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Catalogue of Paintings, Part 3: European Paintings of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1982. Mentioned: p. 212-215; Reproduced: p. 213
  • London, British Insititution, 1823, no. 50.
    London, British Insititution, 1864, no. 148.
    London Grosvenor Gallery, 1884, no. 134.
    Thomas Agnew & Sons, 1963.
    The Silver Jubilee Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-September 28, 1941).
    Pittsburgh, Carnegie Institute, 1938: "Survey of English Painting," no. 19.
    The Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition: The Official Art Exhibit of the Great Lakes Exposition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 26-October 4, 1936).
    CMA, 1936: "Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition," no. 234.
    Cleveland, Nov 25-Dec. 17, 1913: "Cleveland Art Loan Exhibition,' no. 145 b.
  • {{cite web|title=Portrait of Mrs. George Collier|url=false|author=Joshua Reynolds|year=18th century|access-date=26 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1920.514