‘Lost & Found: Robert Burns portrait’

    

The Scotsman

Dr. William Zachs, Director of Blackie House Library and Museum in Edinburgh, photographed with re-discovered portrait of Robert Burns by Henry Raeburn (left) and portrait of Robert Burns by Alexander Nasmyth, 1787 (right). Photo Credit Nick Mailer | NGS 

You’ve seen a like image practically every time you’ve read something about Scotland’s national poet and, just in time for the 267th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns today, news is breaking of the discovery of a copy—an elusive posthumously painted portrait of the poet.

In truth, this discovery occurred last year at an auction in England, where the contents of a house were sold off, when a Burns historian spotted it and wondered if it might be a long lost painting from more than two centuries ago. His bid of £68,000(!) proved to be a winning bet. The work underwent restoration; art historians confirmed its provenance; and, as of today, it hangs on display in the National Galleries of Scotland.

Ms. Jane Bradley, covering the arts and culture beat for The Scotsman, writes:

Commissioned in 1803—at a fee of 20 guineas—by the publishers Cadell & Davies, the painting was to be engraved for future editions of Burns’s books, but has not been seen since. In came up for auction in Wimbledon as part of a clearance of a house in Surrey… It has since been cleaned, and examined by experts, who confirm that it is, indeed, the lost [Sir Henry] Raeburn portrait.

James Holloway, former director of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery from 1997 to 2012, said: “This is a once in a generation discovery: thrilling for lovers of both Burns and Raeburn.”

The original 1787 portrait of Burns was painted by the Edinburgh-born artist Alexander Nasmyth as part of a marketing strategy for the second edition of Burns’s breakthrough book, Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect. This painting, which is now recognised across the world, is part of Scotland’s national art collection. Painted seven years after Burns’ death aged 37, the newly-found portrait was to be based on the original painting by Nasmyth. Burns’s close friend Alexander Cunningham, the custodian of the Nasmyth painting, agreed to the project, with the condition that it was painted by Raeburn.

In 1924, T.C.F. Brotchie, the director of Glasgow Art Galleries and Museums, wrote that the painting’s discovery would be “an event bordering upon the sensational.” The two paintings will now be displayed alongside each other.

That twenty guineas? About five ounces of gold. Serious money.