Angelica Kauffmann, R.A.

Anonymous sale, Munich, Scheublein Art & Auktionen, 24 September 2021, lot 523 (as British School, 18^th century);

Where acquired by the present owner.

This rediscovered portrait of Alexander Gordon (1743–1827), 4th Duke of Gordon, represents a significant addition to the œuvre of Angelica Kauffmann, one of the foremost female artists of the Neoclassical era. Rendered with characteristic elegance, the portrait presents the Duke in a red coat and embroidered lace collar, his gaze directed towards the viewer.

The composition relates closely to Kauffmann’s celebrated three-quarter-length portrait of Alexander Gordon in the National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, painted in 1774,¹ for which this work may have been a preparatory modello. Another, slightly larger variant of this portrait, also half-length, resurfaced in 2013 from a Swiss private collection, having previously been misidentified as a portrait of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.²

Born into one of Scotland’s most prominent noble families, Alexander Gordon succeeded his father as 4th Duke of Gordon in 1752. Educated at Eton, he became a notable military and political figure, serving as a Scottish representative peer in the House of Lords and as Lord Lieutenant of Aberdeenshire, playing a significant role in the political and cultural life of late 18^th-century Britain. His greatest legacy, however, lies in his military achievements—most notably his raising of the 92nd Highlanders (Gordon Highlanders) in 1794, a regiment that became renowned for its discipline and bravery.

The Duke was considered one of the most eligible bachelors in Britain, known for his good looks and extensive landholdings. In 1767 he married Jane Maxwell (1748/49–1812), later Duchess of Gordon. Her portrait, also painted by Kauffmann around 1772, forms the pendant to the Duke's and is likewise in the National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh.³ Despite a famously unhappy marriage, the Duchess had seven children, helped run the vast family estates and became a leader of fashionable society both in London and Edinburgh.

We are grateful to Dr Bettina Baumgärtel, Head of the Angelica Kauffman Research Project, for identifying the sitter and endorsing the attribution to Angelica Kauffman based on first-hand inspection.

¹ Inv. no. PG 2787; oil on canvas; 91.4 x 71.4 cm.; https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/19899

² B. Baumgärtel, in Angelika Kauffmann. Unbekannte Schätze aus Vorarlberger Privatsammlungen, B. Baumgärtel (ed.), exh. cat., Dessau-Roßlau and Bregenz 2018/19, pp. 129–31, no. 51, reproduced in colour.

³ Inv. no. PG 2786; oil on canvas; 91.4 x 70.7 cm.; https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/19898/jane-maxwell-duchess-gordon-about-1749-1812-wife-4th-duke-gordon