George Romney

Commissioned by the sitter for his brother-in-law, William Ogilvie (1740–1832); 

By descent to his daughter, Emily Charlotte Ogilvie (1778–1832), who married Charles George Beauclerk (1774–1845); 

By descent to their son, Aubrey William de Vere Beauclerk (1801–1854); 

His sale, London, Christie's (according to Ward and Roberts; see Literature), where acquired by Lord de Ros; 

Lieutenant-General Dudley Charles FitzGerald-de Ros, 23rd Baron de Ros (1827–1907), Old Court, County Down, Ireland;

By inheritance to his wife, Mary Geraldine Mahon, Lady de Ros (1859–1921), Old Court, County Down;

Anonymous sale ('The Property of a Lady'), London, Christie's, 20 June 1919, lot 83 (as 'G. Romney'), for £714; 

Where acquired by Thomas Agnew and Sons, London; 

With Knoedler & Company, New York; 

With Ehrich Galleries, New York, by 1933;

Anonymous sale, New York, Doyle, 23 May 2012, lot 70 (as school of George Romney);

Where acquired by Peter Schweller;

With Daniel Hunt Fine Art, London, by 2014; 

Where acquired. 

Dublin, Royal Hibernian Academy, Winter Exhibition of Old Masters of the early English and French Schools, 1902–03, no. 71 (lent by Lord de Ros).

Winter Exhibition of Old Masters of the early English and French Schools, exh. cat., Dublin 1902, p. 25, no. 71 (with incorrect dimensions);

H. Ward and W. Roberts, Romney: A biographical and critical essay with a catalogue raisonné of his works, London 1904, vol. II, pp. 131 and 143 (with incorrect dimensions); 

A. Kidson, George Romney: A complete catalogue of his paintings, New Haven and London 2015, vol. II, pp. 489–90, no. 1092j, reproduced in colour.

This fine portrait of Charles Lennox, 3rd Duke of Richmond and Lennox, is an autograph version of Romney's likeness of the same sitter of 1776–77 in the National Portrait Gallery, London.¹ This painting must date a decade or so later, around 1788. The artist's records show that a portrait of the Duke was sent to the latter's brother-in-law, William Ogilvie, in April 1788 and that said portrait was a slightly unusual size, measuring around 83 x 68 cm., much like the present work.² The enlarged size was no doubt intended to make the painting a pendant for Romney's earlier portrait of Ogilvie himself, which was of the same dimensions. The motivation for the commission must have been the Duke's investment in 1782 as a member of the order of the Garter, the star of which appears prominently on his jacket.

An army officer and later a radical politician, Richmond was an influential member of Pitt's cabinet. He was also a great patron of the arts, a passion he had developed as a young man. In February 1758, at the age of 23, he was elected a member of the Society of Arts and served as its Vice-President from 1761 until his death. In the same year, he established a sculpture gallery at his house in Whitehall, which was open to any artist who wished to study the collection. In 1770, this collection was donated to the Incorporated Society of Artists for the promotion of artistic study in England. Richmond was an important patron of Romney, who painted a number of portraits of the Duke, as well as George Stubbs, who produced many scenes of hunting and racing at Goodwood, both pastimes about which Richmond was particularly enthusiastic.

¹ Inv. no. NPG 4877; oil on canvas, 81.3 x 68.6 cm.

² Kidson 2015, vol. II, p. 490, no. 1092.