Miss Eleanor Urquhart
Sir Henry Raeburn·c. 1793
Historical Context
Raeburn's Miss Eleanor Urquhart from around 1793 is one of his most admired female portraits, depicting a young Scottish woman with the directness and psychological presence that distinguished his approach from the more conventionally flattering treatment of female subjects in London. Raeburn painted Edinburgh's professional and landed gentry throughout his career, and his female portraits document the appearance and self-presentation of upper-class Scottish women during the period of the Scottish Enlightenment. Eleanor Urquhart is shown in simple white dress against a dark background — Raeburn's characteristic approach — with the light modeling her features with a directness that feels more like a portrait of a person encountered in life than a formal commissioned image.
Technical Analysis
The face is painted with luminous, warm flesh tones and Raeburn's characteristic bold modeling. The eyes are rendered with particular life and intelligence, and the relatively simple composition focuses all attention on the sitter's animated features.
Provenance
Painted for the sitter's father,[1] William Urquhart, 2nd Laird of Craigston, Craigston Castle, Turriff, Aberdeenshire [Scotland]; by descent to Captain Michael Bruce Pollard-Urquhart [1879-1940], Craigston Castle and Castle Pollard; (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 20 December 1918, no. 144); bought by (Arthur J. Sulley & Co., London). (M. Knoedler & Co., London), probably from whose New York branch it was purchased 5 October 1920 by Andrew W. Mellon, Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C.; deeded December 1934 to The A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, Pittsburgh; gift 1937 to NGA. [1] Painting executed c. 1793; receipt dated January 1794.
