Henry Raeburn

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Self-portrait by Sir Henry Raeburn, oil on canvas, around 1820

Sir Henry Raeburn (born March 4, 1756 in Stockbridge near Edinburgh , † July 8, 1823 in Edinburgh) was a Scottish portrait painter of the Romantic period . Alongside Sir David Wilkie, Raeburn is considered to be the founder of the Scottish School of Painting .

Life

Henry Raeburn studied at George Heriot's School in Edinburgh, founded in 1628 by the royal goldsmith George Heriot . At the age of 15 he trained as a goldsmith, soon turned to engraving and became one of Edinburgh's most important portrait painters.

Reverend Robert Walker ice skating , oil on canvas, 1790s. This famous picture is unsigned, the traditional attribution to Raeburn has meanwhile been questioned

At twenty-four, Henry Raeburn married Count Leslie's rich widow, Ann Edgar, who was eleven years his senior. Their financial means enabled him to study in London (1784) under Sir Joshua Reynolds , the leading portraitist of his time, and a two-year stay in Rome between 1784 and 1786. The trip was artistically significant, and the influence of the works of Pompeo Batoni , Gavin Hamilton, and Giovanni Romanelli made themselves felt in much later portraits. Raeburn was particularly fascinated by observing the effects of light.

Sir Henry Raeburn, knighted by King George IV in 1822 and named “ His Majesty's Limner for Scotland” , had an ambivalent relationship with England throughout his life . In 1810 he considered moving to London and then staying in Edinburgh. He regularly sent his works to the Royal Academy of Arts , where he also became a full academician in 1815. In 1820 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh .

  • Works (selection)

  • The violinist and composer Niel Gow (1727-1807) , 1787, 123.2 × 97.8 cm, Scottish National Gallery , Edinburgh

  • John Tait of Harviestoun , c.1790, California Palace of the Legion of Honor

  • Sir John and Lady Clerk , around 1790, 145 × 206 cm, Sir Alfred Beit collection

  • Ms. Eleanor Urquhart , ca.1793, 75 × 62 cm, National Gallery of Art , Washington DC

  • William Baillie, Lord Polkemmet , undated, 76.2 × 63.5 cm, private collection

  • Girl with Flowers , 1798–1800, Louvre , Paris

  • George Harley Drummond (1783–1855) , approx. 1808, 239.4 × 147.3 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art , New York

  • The Drummond Children , ca.1808, 239.4 × 153 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art , New York

  • Colonel Alastair Ranaldson Macdonell of Glengarry (1771 - 1828) , 1812, 241.9 × 151.1 cm, Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh

  • Boy with Rabbit , 1814, 101.6 × 78.8 cm, Royal Academy of Arts, London

  • Captain Alexander Dirom , ca. 1816-17, Museum of the Shenandoah Valley

  • Sir Walter Scott , 1822, 76.2 × 63.5 cm

literature

  • David Alexander, Viccy Coltman and Stephen Lloyd: Henry Raeburn and his Printmakers . National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh 2006, ISBN 978-1-903278-90-1 (catalog of the exhibition of the same name, October 21 to December 9, 2006).
  • Michael Bryan: Dictionary of Painters and Engravers. Biographical and Critical . Kenniikat Press, Port Washington 1964 (reprint of the London edition 1886/89).
  • Peter J. McEwan: Dictionary of Scottish Art & Architecture . 2nd edition, Glengarden Press, Ballater, Aberdeenshire 2004, ISBN 0-9547552-1-9 .
  • Samuel Redgrave: A Dictionary of Artists of the English School. Painters, Sculptors, Architects with Notices of their Lives and Work . Hissink, Amsterdam 1970, ISBN 90-6025-027-3 (reprint of the London 1878 edition).
  • Francis Russell: Portraits of Sir Walter Scott. A Study of Romantic Portraiture . White Press, London 1987, ISBN 0-9512595-0-4 .
  • Ludwig Scheewe : Raeburn, Henry . In: Hans Vollmer (Hrsg.): General lexicon of fine artists from antiquity to the present . Founded by Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker . tape 27 : Piermaria – Ramsdell . EA Seemann, Leipzig 1933, p. 554-555 .
  • Duncan Thomson (Ed.): Raeburn. The art of Sir Henry Raeburn. 1756-1823 . National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh 1997, ISBN 0-903598-76-0 .
  • Duncan Thomson: Sir Henry Raeburn (Scottish Masters; Vol. 21). National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh 1994, ISBN 0-903598-43-4 .

Web links

Commons : Henry Raeburn  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Fellows Directory. Biographical Index: Former RSE Fellows 1783–2002. (PDF file) Royal Society of Edinburgh, accessed April 1, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Raeburn, Henry
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British painter, founder of the "Scottish School" of painting
DATE OF BIRTH March 4, 1756
PLACE OF BIRTH Stockbridge near Edinburgh
DATE OF DEATH July 8, 1823
Place of death Stockbridge near Edinburgh