Miss Jean Christie
Sir Henry Raeburn·c. 1810/1830
Historical Context
Henry Raeburn was the pre-eminent portrait painter of Scottish society in the decades around 1800, knighted by George IV in 1822 and appointed His Majesty's Limner for Scotland. Miss Jean Christie's portrait, datable to around 1810-30, exemplifies Raeburn's characteristic approach: broad, confident brushwork applied with a loaded brush, strong tonal contrasts derived from direct studio lighting, and a psychological directness that distinguishes his work from the more polished London manner of Lawrence. Raeburn rarely prepared detailed underdrawings, building his portraits directly on the canvas with an empirical bravura that anticipates the directness of mid-Victorian portraiture. His sitters from Edinburgh's professional and landed gentry classes found in his technique a visual equivalent of Scottish Enlightenment values: clarity, directness, and honest observation.
Technical Analysis
The oil on canvas adopts Raeburn's characteristic approach with broad, confident brushwork and strong tonal contrasts. The warm palette and the direct, natural treatment of the sitter attempt to capture the vitality and freshness that distinguished Raeburn's best portraits.
Provenance
Elizabeth, 5th Duchess of Gordon [1794-1864]; by descent to the sitter's half-brother, Adam Gordon; thence through his widow, who married a Mr. Reid, to her grandson, Major Duggan [d. by 1918], Newton Garrie, Fochabers, Morayshire, Scotland;[1] sold 1929 by his widow to (P. Jackson Higgs), New York;[2] from whom it was purchased December 1929 by Mrs. William H. Moore, New York; by descent to her son Edward Small Moore [1881-1948], thence to his wife, Jean McGuinley Moore [later Mrs. Charles D. Draper, 1884/5-1954],New York; bequest 1954 to NGA. [1] The provenance from Adam Gordon to Major Duggan is given in the expertise supplied to P. Jackson Higgs by William Roberts, 5 September 1929, in NGA curatorial files. [2] The picture was advertised as recently acquired by P. Jackson Higgs in _Art_ (December 1929), 5.
