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Lot Essay
The sweeping strong lines of the arms, body and drapery on this large sheet are typical of Romney’s artistry, though unusually it is combined with the highly worked shading of the face, used to convey depth and modelling and it has been suggested that the pencil work in the face may have been strengthened by a later hand.
The present drawing belonged to two important New York collections. The collector’s stamp is that of Dan Fellowes Platt who put together a collection of over two thousand 17th 18th and 19th century drawings, the majority Italian including examples by Tiepolo and Guercino, but also French and English works notably 194 works by Romney, a large number of which were donated to Princeton University by his widow.
The drawing then passed into the collection of Ray Slater Murphy, the mother of the celebrated collector Ray Livingstone Murphy (1923-1953) and descended through the family. Ray Slater Murphy was the granddaughter of the artist and collector William Morris Hunt and was a linguist, inveterate traveller, amateur archaeologist and patron of the arts. On the tragic early death of her talented and versatile collector son Ray Slater Murphy moved into his house in New York that he had filled with his collection where she lived as a recluse until her death. Ray Livingstone Murphy’s collection of English Drawings and Watercolours, which included a number of works by Romney and Fuseli was sold in these Rooms, 19 November 1985.
The present drawing belonged to two important New York collections. The collector’s stamp is that of Dan Fellowes Platt who put together a collection of over two thousand 17th 18th and 19th century drawings, the majority Italian including examples by Tiepolo and Guercino, but also French and English works notably 194 works by Romney, a large number of which were donated to Princeton University by his widow.
The drawing then passed into the collection of Ray Slater Murphy, the mother of the celebrated collector Ray Livingstone Murphy (1923-1953) and descended through the family. Ray Slater Murphy was the granddaughter of the artist and collector William Morris Hunt and was a linguist, inveterate traveller, amateur archaeologist and patron of the arts. On the tragic early death of her talented and versatile collector son Ray Slater Murphy moved into his house in New York that he had filled with his collection where she lived as a recluse until her death. Ray Livingstone Murphy’s collection of English Drawings and Watercolours, which included a number of works by Romney and Fuseli was sold in these Rooms, 19 November 1985.