Major General Andrew Hay

Artist Sir Henry Raeburn British, 1756–1823

Datecirca 1811

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions50 x 40 in. (127 x 101.6 cm)
Frame: 59 5/8 x 50 x 3 1/4 in. (151.4 x 127 x 8.3 cm)

ClassificationsPaintings

Credit LineGift of John Hay Whitney

Object numberG.52.15.1

On View

Not on view

ProvenanceCommissioned by the sitter, circa 1811; created Edinburgh, circa 1811; Major General Andrew Hay (1762–1814), Banffshire, Scotland, and Hampshire, England; to his daughter, Elizabeth Helen Hay Williams (b. 1785), Hyde Park, London [1]; to her daughter, Eliza Anne Margaret Hall Maxwell (née Williams; d. 1907), Dargavel, Scotland [2]. [Christie, Manson & Woods, London, May 10, 1912, no. 53] [3]; [Knoedler & Co., New York, no. 12860, May 1912; joint ownership with Colnaghi & Co., London, no. CA3312] [4]; Colonel Ambrose Monell (1873–1921), Tuxedo Park, New York, March 1916 [5]; [his sale, Anderson Galleries, November 28, 1930, no. 60]. Flora Payne Whitney (1842–1893), New York; to her son William Payne Whitney (1876–1968) and his wife Helen Julia Hay (1875–1944), New York by 1938 [6]; to their son John Hay Whitney (1904–1982), New York; given to NCMA, 1952.

[1] Wife of Thomas Orde Williams (1793–1865)
[2] At the time of John Hall Maxwell's (1812–1866) death in 1866, his obituary (The Morning Post, August 30, 1866) noted that he was survived by a widow and six children, two sons and four daughters.
[3] Knoedler's stock book demonstrates that they (or Colnaghi) were the buyers at the Christie's sale in 1912. A 1987 letter in the NCMA files from the director of the Joslyn Art Museum (owners of the pendant portrait of Mrs. Elisabeth Robinson Hay, no. 52 in the 1912 sale) indicates that this sale was from the property of a descendent of the Hay family. The catalogue for the sale notes only "The Property of a Gentleman." It is likely that the painting passed to Eliza Maxwell's son or another family member after her death in 1907, after which it was sold. No further information has yet been found about Eliza's descendents. In the NCMA files a "dealer folio," presumably from Knoedler, says that it was Eliza Maxwell who sold the painting together with its pendant.
[4] Knoedler Stock Book 6, Page 29, Row 16, Stock no. 12860 (Getty Research Institute). Knoedler's stock book also notes the joint ownership of the painting with Colnaghi and gives another identification number, which is found on the stretcher: 5299.
[5] Noted as buyer in Knoedler stock book (see previous note). Previously misspelled in NCMA records as "Ambrose Morrell."
[6] Exhibition label on stretcher reverse, New York World's Fair, 1938, notes the lender as "Mrs. Payne Whitney." Also listed as the lender of the painting for the 1938 exhibition at Jacques Seligmann Galleries, New York.Published References"Catalogue of Pictures by Old Masters, the property of the Hon. William Lowther...and works by Old Masters from numerous private collections and different soures," (auction catalogue) (London: Christie, Manson & Woods, May 10, 1912), lot 53.

"Raeburn Portrait Sells for $111,300," New York Times (May 11, 1912), Knoedler purchase briefly mentioned.

"Art at Home and Abroad," New York Times (January 12, 1913), briefly discussed.

"Collection of the Late Colonel Ambrose Monell, Tuxedo Park, New York, sold by order of Mrs. Ambrose Monell," (auction catalogue) (New York: Anderson Galleries, November 28, 1930), lot 60, illus. (b/w).

The International Studio (November 1930), 43.

Apollo Magazine (January 1931), 45.

Portraits by Sir Henry Raeburn (1756–1823) (exhibition catalogue) (New York: Jacques Seligmann & Co., 1938), no. 7.

W. R. Valentiner, Catalogue of Paintings: Including Three Sets of Tapestries (Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, 1956), no. 101.

North Carolina Architect, 20th Anniversary North Carolina Museum of Art 1947-1967 (Raleigh, NC: The North Carolina Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, 1967) 63. Artwork included without scholarly writing.

British Paintings to 1900: Catalogue of Paintings, Vol. 2, 2nd ed. (Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, 1969), no. 100, illus. (b-w).

The Mint Museum of Art Presents British Paintings from the Collection of the North Carolina Museum of Art (exhibition catalogue) (Charlotte: Mint Museum of Art, 1973), cat. no. 17, illus. (b-w) opposite no. 16 (photos switched by mistake).

Holliday T. Day and Hollister Sturges, eds., Joslyn Art Museum: Paintings & Sculpture from the European & American Collections (Omaha: Joslyn Art Museum, 1987), 66.

Barry Reid, Hay of Mountblairy (Glen Waverly, Victoria, Australia: Anerly Desktop Designers, 2004), illus. (b-w) 16.Exhibition HistoryNew York, The Knoedler Galleries, "Loan Exhibition of Portraits by Sir Henry Raeburn," June 9–25, 1913, no. 13.

New York, World's Fair, "Masterpieces of Art," 1938, no. 144.

New York, Jaques Seligmann Galleries, "Portraits by Sir Henry Raeburn," March 28–April 16, 1938, no. 7.

Charlotte, NC, Mint Museum of Art, "The Mint Museum of Art Presents British Paintings from the Collection of the North Carolina Museum of Art," September 16–December 30, 1973, cat. no. 17, illus. (b-w) opposite no. 16 (photos switched by mistake).
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