Portrait of a Man

ArtistAttributed to Sir Martin Archer Shee British, 1769–1850

Datecirca 1815–1830

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions51 x 40 in. (129.5 x 101.6 cm)
Frame: 57 3/8 x 47 3/8 x 3 in. (145.7 x 120.3 x 7.6 cm)

ClassificationsPaintings

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the State of North Carolina

Object number52.9.78

On View

On view

ProvenanceCreated England, circa 1815–1830. Madame Roussel, Paris, before 1912; [her sale, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, March 25–28, 1912, no. 14, as Sir Thomas Lawrence, Portrait of Sir Charles Lauther]; A. Decour, Paris [1]. Baron Sigismund von Springer (1875–1928) and Baroness Valentine Noémi (Valli) Springer-Rothschild (1886–1969), Vienna; forced sale to the Kunsthistorischen Museum, ordered by the Rechstatthalter of Vienna, February 15, 1941, as “Lawrence, Bildnis Sir Charles Lauter” [2]; restituted to Valentine Springer-Rothschild, Switzerland, 1947 [3]; [Newhouse Galleries, New York]; sold to NCMA, 1951.

[1] Noted as the buyer in the annotated version of the Roussel catalogue in the library of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This is probably Auguste Decour, who was an architect, interior designer, and gallerist whose most recognizable American project was designing the wall panels of the Fragonard room in the Frick mansion in New York in 1916, now The Frick Collection. A sale of the Decour collection took place at Hotel Drouot in Paris 1929 (“Collection A. Decour, Première partie,” April 10–11, 1929), but was entirely comprised of ornamental drawings. If there were subsequent sales of this collection that followed, none have been identified.
[2] One of eight paintings sold. Letter ordering the sale and transcriptions of archival documents in Sophie Lillie, Was einmal war. Handbuch der enteigneten Kunstsammlungen Wiens (Vienna: Czernin Verlag, 2003), 1241–1243. Valentine Springer-Rothschild was of Jewish heritage and following persecution after the 1938 Anschluss of Vienna she fled to Switzerland in 1939, where she remained after the war. Because she also had British citizenship, her possessions were considered “enemy assets” and were difficult for the Nazi government of Vienna to gain access to, though multiple attempts were made.
[3] See Lillie, Was einmal war, 1242. Seven of the eight paintings were returned to Valentine Springer-Rothschild after the war. The eighth, another portrait by Lawrence, was kept by the Kunsthistorischen Museum in exchange for the export licenses for the other seven.
Published References“Catalogue des Tableaux Anciens, Tableaux Modernes…le tout dépendant de la Succession de Madame Roussel” (auction catalogue) (Paris: Galerie Georges Petit, March 25–28, 1912, lot 14, as Sir Thomas Lawrence, Portrait of Sir Charles Lauther.

Les Arts (April 1912), 3-4, illus. (as Sir Charles Lowther by Lawrence).

Art News (April 1956), 39, illus.

W. R. Valentiner, Catalogue of Paintings: Including Three Sets of Tapestries (Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, 1956), no. 94 (as by Sir Thomas Lawrence), illus. (b-w).

C.W.S. [Charles W. Stanford] "Sir Charles Lowther," North Carolina Museum of Art Calendar of Art Events 1, no. 10 (August-September 1958), discussed (as by Sir Thomas Lawrence) and illus. (b-w), unnumbered page.

Charles W. Stanford, Masterpieces in the North Carolina Museum of Art (Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, 1966), no. 10 (as by Sir Thomas Lawrence), illus. (color).

British Paintings to 1900: Catalogue of Paintings, Vol. 2, 2nd ed. (Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, 1969), no. 92 (as Sir Charles Lowther by Sir Thomas Lawrence), illus. (b-w), also illus. (color) cover.

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. 21 (as Sir Charles Lowther by Sir Thomas Lawrence), illus. (b-w).

Sophie Lillie, Was einmal war. Handbuch der enteigneten Kunstsammlungen Wiens (Vienna: Czernin Verlag, 2003), 1241–1243, as Sir Thomas Lawrence, Portrait of Sir Charles Lauter.
Exhibition HistoryCharlotte, 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. 22 (as Sir Charles Lowther by Sir Thomas Lawrence), illus. (b-w).

Richmond, VA, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, “Masterpieces from the North Carolina Museum of Art,” March 11-April 13, 1975.

Hickory, NC, The Hickory Museum of Art, “Beyond Likeness: Contemporary Considerations of the Portrait,” November 1-December 31, 1997; Wilmington, NC, St. John’s Museum of Art, April 30-June 28, 1998; Fayetteville, NC, Fayetteville Museum of Art, July 11-August 30, 1998; Asheville, NC, Asheville Art Museum, September 17, 1998-January 2, 1999; Greenville, NC, Greenville Museum of Art, January 14-February 28, 1999, brochure. (Outreach exhibition)

Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, “History and Mystery: Discoveries in the NCMA British Collection,” August 6, 2016–June 25, 2017.

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

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