Robert Liston

1800

Gilbert Stuart

Painter, American, 1755 - 1828

Media Options

This object’s media is free and in the public domain. Read our full Open Access policy for images.
Information on this painting can be found in the Gallery publication American Paintings of the Eighteenth Century, pages 221-224, which is available as a free PDF https://www.nga.gov/content/dam/ngaweb/research/publications/pdfs/american-paintings-18th-century.pdf
On View

West Building Main Floor, Gallery 60-A

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Chester Dale Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 73.8 x 61 cm (29 1/16 x 24 in.)
    framed: 90.5 x 78.1 x 6 cm (35 5/8 x 30 3/4 x 2 3/8 in.)

  • Accession

    1957.10.1

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

The sitter's grand-niece and heir, Henrietta Ramage Liston Foulis [d. 1850], Millburn Tower, County Edinburgh, Scotland;[1] her son, Sir James Liston Foulis, 9th baronet [1847-1895], Woodhall and Millburn Tower, County Edinburgh; his son, Sir William Liston Foulis, 10th baronet [1869-1918], Woodhall and Millburn Tower, County Edinburgh; (P. & D. Colnaghi & Obach, London, on joint account with M. Knoedler & Co., New York), 16 December 1919; sold April 1920 to Elbert H. Gary [1846-1927], New York;[2] sale of his estate (American Art Association, New York, 8 December 1934, no. 386);[3] bought by Helena Woolworth McCann [Mrs. Charles E. F. McCann, d. 1938], New York;[4] her children, Constance Woolworth Betts, Helena Woolworth Guest, and Frasier Winfield McCann;[5] (Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, 21 February 1945, no. 48).[6] Booth Tarkington [1869-1946], Indianapolis, Indiana; his widow, Susannah Robinson Tarkington [d. 1966];[7] consigned November 1947 by (Daniel H. Farr) to (M. Knoedler & Co.); sold that month to Chester Dale [1883-1962], New York; gift 1957 to NGA.
[1] After Miss Liston married Sir William Foulis, 8th Baronet (1812-1858) in 1843, he assumed the name Liston. On the baronetcy see George Edward Cokayne Baronetage, Complete Baronetage, 6 vols., Exeter, England, 1900-1909, 2:401-403, and Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 105th ed., London, 1970, 1043-1044.
[2] Melissa De Medeiros, librarian, M. Knoedler & Co, provided information about Knoedler's ownership and subsequent sales in a letter dated 5 June 1992 (NGA curatorial file).
[3] American Art Association, Important Rugs, Paintings, Georgian Silver and English Furniture from the Estate of the Late Elbert H. Gary and from the Estate of the Late Emma T. Gary, New York, 1934, 80, repro.; see "When Genuine Raeburns Turn Out to Be Absolute Stuarts," Art Digest 9, no. 5 (1 December 1934), 8, and "Active Bidding Marks Auction of Gary Estate," Art News 33, no. 11 (15 December 1934), 3; on Gary see Dictionary of American Biography, 20 vols., New York, 1928-1936, reprinted in 10 vols. with 8 supplements, New York, 1944-1988, 7:175-176.
[4] Although Knoedler is listed as the purchaser in Helen Comstock, "The Connoisseur in America: A Recapitulation of Portraits Recovered for Gilbert Stuart," Connoisseur 95, no. 402 (February 1935), 99-100, which was confirmed by A. Rugo of Parke-Bernet Galleries in a letter dated 18 September 1964 (NGA curatorial file), Knoedler was acting as the bidder on behalf of Mrs. McCann, according to Knoedler librarian Melissa De Medeiros.
[5] Letter of 8 October 1964 from her son Frasier Winfield McCann, president of the Winfield Foundation, to whom the painting was lent by her estate (NGA curatorial file); her death date and her children's names are found in the biography of her husband Charles Edward Francis McCann in The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 63 vols., Clifton, New Jersey, 31:100-101.
[6] Notable Paintings by Old Masters, Works by XIX Century Artists From the Collection of the Late Mr. & Mrs. Charles E. F. McCann..., New York, 1945, 44, repro.
[7] On Booth Tarkington see Dictionary of Literary Biography, vol. 9, part 3: American Novelists, 1910-1945, Detroit, 1981, 90-96, and Dictionary of American Biography, Supplement Four, 1946-1950, 815-817; his wife's obituary is in The New York Times for 13 January 1966, 25.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1884

  • Scottish National Portraits, Edinburgh, 1884, no. 280, as by Sir Henry Raeburn

1942

  • Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, 1942-1944 (on loan from the Winfield Foundation)

1965

  • The Chester Dale Bequest, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1965, unnumbered checklist.

Bibliography

1843

  • Cunningham, Allan. The Life of Sir David Wilkie; with his Journals, Tours, and Critical Remarks on Works of Art; and a Selection from his Correspondence. 3 vols. London, 1843: 2:119.

1879

  • Mason, George C. The Life and Works of Gilbert Stuart. New York, 1879: 215.

1880

  • "Portraits Painted by Stuart...taken from Mason's Life and Works of Gilbert Stuart." In Exhibition of Portraits Painted by Gilbert Stuart. Exh. cat. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1880: 46, no. 369.

1901

  • Armstrong, Sir Walter. Sir Henry Raeburn. London, 1901: 106.

1904

  • Pinnington, Edward. Sir Henry Raeburn, R.A.. London, 1904: 238.

1911

  • Greig, James. Sir Henry Raeburn, R.A., London, 1911: 51.

1926

  • Park 1926, 478-479, no. 493, repro.

1932

  • Whitley 1932, 117.

1934

  • "When Genuine Raeburns Turn Out to Be Absolute Gilbert Stuarts." Art Digest 9, no. 5 (1 December 1934): 8.

1935

  • Comstock, Helen. "A Recapitulation of Portraits Recovered for Gilbert Stuart." The Connoisseur 95 (February 1935): 99-100, repro.

1954

  • Perkins, Bradford. "A Diplomat's Wife in Philadelphia: Letters of Henrietta Liston, 1796-1800." William and Mary Quarterly 11, no. 4 (January 1954): 592-632, repro.

1961

  • Wright, Esmond. "Robert Liston, Second British Minister to the United States." History Today 11, no. 2 (February 1961): 118-127, repro.

1964

  • Mount 1964, 224, 370.

1965

  • Paintings other than French in the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 29, repro.

1970

  • American Paintings and Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970: 104, repro.

1975

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1975: 382, color repro.

1980

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 231, repro.

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 378, no. 533, color repro.

1986

  • McLanathan 1986, 99-100, color repro.

1992

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 351, repro.

1995

  • Miles, Ellen G. American Paintings of the Eighteenth Century. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1995: 221-224, color repro. 223.

2000

  • Kirsh, Andrea, and Rustin S. Levenson. Seeing Through Paintings: Physical Examination in Art Historical Studies. Materials and Meaning in the Fine Arts 1. New Haven, 2000: 262.

Inscriptions

on reverse, in a later hand: Sir Robert Liston--Died 1837 / G C B / Her Britannic Majesty's / Ambassador to / the Sublime Porte / Painted by Raeburn

Wikidata ID

Q20180988

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