DOI issue:
No. 215 (January 1915)
DOI article:Reddie, Arthur: The landscapes of David Murray Smith, R.B.A.
DOI article:Williamson, George Charles: Miniatures in the Piermont Morgan Collection: two sketches by Frances Reynolds
DOI Page / Citation link: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.43457#0267
Miniatures in the Pierpont Morgan Cottection
’“on the banks of the arno”
OIL PAINTING BY D. MURRAY SMITH, R.B.A.
its highest point; it is here that he reveals and
communicates the beauty he has sought and found
in Nature. Arthur Reddie.
INIATURES IN THE PIER-
PONT MORGAN COLLEC¬
TION.—TWO SKETCHES BY
FRANCES REYNOLDS.
The two miniatures which are reproduced in
this month’s issue, are drawings in water-colour on
ivory, by Frances Reynolds, the youngest sister of
Sir Joshua, from paintings executed by him, and
as historical documents are of considerable im-
portance. The one called The Link Boy is
signed by the artist and dated 1776, and this
drawing gives us what we have not known hitherto,
the exact date on which the President painted
the picture called Cupid as a Link Boy.
This picture was described by Malone as The
Covent Garden Cupid, and, according to Graves
and Cronin, it was exhibited at the British Institu-
tion in 1817, in 1823, and in 1840. It was en-
graved by J. Dean in mezzotint, August 1, 1777,
and was used by S. W. Reynolds in his series of
engravings, circa 1820, but all we could say before
the discovery of this sketch by Frances Reynolds
was, that the picture was either painted before
1777, or in that year. We may conclude, however,
from this sketch, that the picture was painted in
1776, and not in 1778 as Sir Walter Armstrong
has it.
The picture also figured at the Old Masters’
exhibition at the Royal Academy in 1875, when it
was exhibited by Earl de la Warr, and again in
1896, when it was shown by Mr. Alexander Hen-
derson, whose property it then was. A little later
on it was purchased by Mr. Pierpont Morgan.
The reproduction of it here given shows a number of
divergences between it and the miniature, the most
conspicuous perhaps being the absence of wings
from the latter, which would seem to imply that the
picture was first of all a study of an actual link boy,
and was subsequently amended. In the picture
the colour and certain details have become modified
by reason of exposure to light.
The other drawing, called The Strawberry Girl,
is evidently a sketch of the picture now belonging
to the Marquess of Lansdowne, a work which
differs in certain respects and in colouring from
the better known example of this famous painting
which is in the Wallace Collection. It is signed
179
’“on the banks of the arno”
OIL PAINTING BY D. MURRAY SMITH, R.B.A.
its highest point; it is here that he reveals and
communicates the beauty he has sought and found
in Nature. Arthur Reddie.
INIATURES IN THE PIER-
PONT MORGAN COLLEC¬
TION.—TWO SKETCHES BY
FRANCES REYNOLDS.
The two miniatures which are reproduced in
this month’s issue, are drawings in water-colour on
ivory, by Frances Reynolds, the youngest sister of
Sir Joshua, from paintings executed by him, and
as historical documents are of considerable im-
portance. The one called The Link Boy is
signed by the artist and dated 1776, and this
drawing gives us what we have not known hitherto,
the exact date on which the President painted
the picture called Cupid as a Link Boy.
This picture was described by Malone as The
Covent Garden Cupid, and, according to Graves
and Cronin, it was exhibited at the British Institu-
tion in 1817, in 1823, and in 1840. It was en-
graved by J. Dean in mezzotint, August 1, 1777,
and was used by S. W. Reynolds in his series of
engravings, circa 1820, but all we could say before
the discovery of this sketch by Frances Reynolds
was, that the picture was either painted before
1777, or in that year. We may conclude, however,
from this sketch, that the picture was painted in
1776, and not in 1778 as Sir Walter Armstrong
has it.
The picture also figured at the Old Masters’
exhibition at the Royal Academy in 1875, when it
was exhibited by Earl de la Warr, and again in
1896, when it was shown by Mr. Alexander Hen-
derson, whose property it then was. A little later
on it was purchased by Mr. Pierpont Morgan.
The reproduction of it here given shows a number of
divergences between it and the miniature, the most
conspicuous perhaps being the absence of wings
from the latter, which would seem to imply that the
picture was first of all a study of an actual link boy,
and was subsequently amended. In the picture
the colour and certain details have become modified
by reason of exposure to light.
The other drawing, called The Strawberry Girl,
is evidently a sketch of the picture now belonging
to the Marquess of Lansdowne, a work which
differs in certain respects and in colouring from
the better known example of this famous painting
which is in the Wallace Collection. It is signed
179