Mrs. James Russell (Katherine Graves) (1717–1778)

Artist John Singleton Copley American, 1738–1815, active in Great Britain 1774–1815

Datecirca 1770

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions50 1/4 x 40 in. (127.6 x 101.6 cm)
Frame: 57 x 47 1/2 in. (144.8 x 120.7 cm)

ClassificationsPaintings

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the North Carolina State Art Society (Robert F. Phifer Bequest) and the State of North Carolina, by exchange

Object number92.9

On View

On view

Provenance**Presumably commissioned by Mr. and/or Mrs. James Russell, Charlestown, MA, ca. 1770; created United States, ca. 1770; Mr. and Mrs. James Russell; to daughter, Rebecca Graves Russell [1] Lowell; to daughter, Elizabeth Cutts Lowell [2] Dutton; to her son, James Dutton Russell (formerly James Russell Dutton); to his daughter, Elizabeth Lowell Dutton Russell [3] Dalton; to children, Henry Rogers Dalton Jr., and Elizabeth Lowell Dalton, Boston; extended loan to Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1906–08, 1925–1942; given to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1942 (acc.no. 42.101); [Kennedy Galleries, Inc., New York, 1980]; private collection, New Rochelle, NY; [Kennedy Galleries, New York]; sold to NCMA, 1992.

[1] Mrs. John
[2] Mrs. Warren
[3] Mrs. Henry Rogers
Published ReferencesAugust Thorndike Perkins, A Sketch of the Life and a List of Some of the Works of John Singleton Copley (Boston: James R. Osgood & Co., 1873), briefly discussed 100.

F. W. Bayley, A Sketch of the Life and a List of Some Works of John Singleton Copley (Boston, 1910), 86.

F. W. Bayley, The Life and Works of John Singleton Copley (Boston:Taylor Press, 1915), 212.

Theodore Bolton and Harry Lorin Binsse, "John Singleton Copley." The Antiquarian [ ] (December 1930), 118.

Selected Oil and Tempera Paintings & Three Pastels (Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1932), listed & illus. (b-w) unpaginated.

Barbara Neville Parker and Anne Bolling Wheeler, John Singleton Copley: American Portraits in Oil, Pastel and Miniature with Biographical Sketches (Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1938), 170, illus. (b-w) pl. 71.

The Historical Records Survey, Division of Professional and Service Projects, Works Progress Administration, American Portraits, 1620-1825, Found in Massachusetts (Boston: The Historical Records Survey, 1939), Vol. 2, no. 1864, p. 227.

Florence S. Berryman, "News and Comment: Museum Acquisitions: Boston and St. Louis," Magazine of Art 35 (October 1942), discussed 227, illus. (b-w) 226.

Jules David Prown, John Singleton Copley in America, 1738-1774 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1966), listed 227, noted 54, 76 and 81, illus. (b-w) fig. 275.

American Paintings in The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1969), listed Vol. 2, no. 285; illus. (b-w) Vol. 2, fig. 66.

[Kennedy Gallery advertisement]. Antiques 120 (November 1981), 970-1, illus. (color) 970.

[Kennedy Gallery advertisement]. Connoisseur 208 (December 1981), illus. (color) back cover.

[Kennedy Gallery advertisement]. Apollo 115 (February 1982), illus. (color) opp. 71.

[Kennedy Gallery advertisement]. Arts 56 (February 1982), illus. (color) 54.

[Kennedy Gallery advertisement]. Art News 82 (January 1983), illus. (color) 8.

Richard Shone, "New York: Selected Autumn Exhibitions," Burlington Magazine 128 (January 1986), noted 60, illus. (b-w) fig. 63.

[Kennedy Gallery advertisement]. Antiques 132 (September 1987), 368-9, illus. (color) 369.

[Kennedy Gallery advertisement]. Art in America 75 (October 1987), illus.(color) 5.

[Kennedy Gallery advertisement]. Antiques 141 (January 1992), 16-17, illus. (color) 17.

"Principales Acquisitions des Musées en 1993," Gazette des Beaux-Arts 1502 (March 1994), no. 247, illus. (b-w).

"Board Business: North Carolina Art Society," North Carolina Museum of Art Preview (Summer 1994), 24-25, illus. (b-w) 25.

Carrie Rebora & Paul Staiti, John Singleton Copley in America (exhibition catalogue) (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1995), 284, 307, illus. (b-w) fig. 219.

Virginia Burden & John Coffey, "Recent Acquisition: John Singleton Copley: Mrs. James Russell (Katherine Graves)," North Carolina Museum of Art Preview (Summer 1995), 12-14, illus. (color, detail, cover), (b-w) 12.

John W. Coffey, entry for Mrs. James Russell (Katherine Graves), in North Carolina Museum of Art: Handbook of the Collections, Rebecca Martin Nagy, ed. (Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, 1998), 7-8, 190, illus. (color) 190.

Caitlin Cleary, "Their art's desire," Raleigh: The News and Observer (August 1, 2004), mentioned 6G.

John W. Coffey, entry for Mrs. James Russell (Katherine Graves) (1717-1778), in North Carolina Museum of Art: Handbook of the Collections, rev. ed. (Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, 2010), 392, illus. (color) 393.

Chaim M. Rosenberg, The Life and Times of Francis Cabot Lowell, 1775-1817 (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2011), illus. (b-w) 45.
Exhibition HistoryBoston, MA, Museum of Fine Arts, 1885, 1887.

Boston, MA, Boston Art Club, November 1911.

Norton, MA, Wheaton College, 1945.

Saginaw, MI, Saginaw Museum, An Exhibition of American Painting from Colonial Times until Today, January 10-February 15, 1948, no. 10.

Dallas, TX, Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Famous American Paintings Assembled for the State Fair of Texas, 1948, no. 2, illus. (b-w).

Quincy, MA, Thomas Crane Public Library, 1955.

Hamilton, Ont., Art Gallery of Hamilton, 50th Anniversary Exhibition, October 3-November 1, 1964, no. 4, illus. (b-w) fig. 4.

Kalamazoo, MI, Kalamazoo Art Center, Paintings by American Masters: Fifth Anniversary Exhibition, September 14-October 19, 1966, p.6, illus. (b-w).

New York, NY, Kennedy Galleries, Inc., Art of America: Selected Paintings and Sculpture, 1770-1981, November 11, 1981-January 15, 1982, no. 2, illus. (color), also detail illus. (color) cover.

New York, NY, Kennedy Galleries, Inc., Summits: Outstanding American Paintings, 1763-1985, November 6-December 7, 1985, illus. (color) unpaginated.

New York, NY, Kennedy Galleries, Inc., Summits III: American Master Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings and Prints, October 21-November 28, 1987, no. 2, illus. (color).

Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "Art for the People: Recent Museum Acquisitions," September 14, 1997-January 4, 1998. (Closing date extended to January 25, 1998)

Wilmington, NC, Louise Wells Cameron Art Museum, "18th and 19th Century American Art from the Collection of the North Carolina Museum of Art," June 20, 2003-February 22, 2004.

Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, Highlights of the American Collection, February 15-August 2, 2009.

Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "The People's Collection, Reimagined," October 7, 2022–present. Object Rights Statement

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