Portrait of a Man in a Red Suit
| Portrait of a Man in a Red Suit | |
|---|---|
| Portrait of an African | |
| Artist | Unknown |
| Medium | oil paint, canvas |
| Dimensions | 61.8 cm (24.3 in) × 51.5 cm (20.3 in) |
| Location | Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter, Devon |
| Owner | Percy Moore Turner |
| Accession no. | 14/1943 |
| Identifiers | Art UK artwork ID: portrait-of-a-man-in-a-red-suit-95600 |
Portrait of a Man in a Red Suit (formerly known as Portrait of an African) is an 18th-century oil painting of a black man held by the Royal Albert Memorial Museum and donated by Percy Moore Turner in 1943. The artist and sitter are unknown.[1]
The earliest provenance is a sale by Christie's in 1931.[1] From 2006 until June 2023, it was attributed to Allan Ramsay, created c. 1757–1760 and believed to be of a young Ignatius Sancho.[2][3][4] Before that, it was proposed in the 1960s to have depicted Olaudah Equiano and to have been painted by Joshua Reynolds c. 1780 with the title Portrait of a Negro Man.[5][6] Historian Stephen Davidson claimed that the painting depicts the revolutionary Thomas Peters during his 1791 visit to London, adding that it was the only portrait of a Black Loyalist known to exist.[7] The painting featured as part of the "Art Everywhere" initiative in the UK in August 2013.[8]
References
- ^ a b Parsons, Julien (June 2023). "Portrait of a Man in a Red Suit". RAMM research blog.
- ^ "Portrait of an African, probably Ignatius Sancho, once identified as Olaudah Equiano". Rammcollections.org.uk/. Royal Albert Memorial Museum. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
- ^ Madin, John, "Trading faces", BBC - Devon - Abolition, 26 February 2007.
- ^ "Portrait of an African (probably Ignatius Sancho, 1729–1780)", Art UK.
- ^ "Portrait of an African". Art Everywhere. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
- ^ John Madin (3 August 2006). "O Saviour, save me, your servant". Apollo Magazine. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ^ Davidson, Stephen (31 May 2019). Birchtown and the Black Loyalist Experience. Formac Publishing Company. p. 67. ISBN 978-1-4595-0556-8.
- ^ Ian Youngs (14 August 2013). "Art is everywhere, but who is looking?". BBC. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
External links
Media related to Portrait of a Man in a Red Suit - RAMM at Wikimedia Commons