id: 148811 accession number: 1976.6 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1976.6 updated: 2023-04-22 12:24:30.378000 Mrs. Sarah Siddons, 1785. Thomas Gainsborough (British, 1727–1788). Black chalk with extensive stump work with traces of white gouache; sheet: 46.8 x 35.3 cm (18 7/16 x 13 7/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 1976.6 title: Mrs. Sarah Siddons title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1785 creation date earliest: 1785 creation date latest: 1785 current location: creditline: John L. Severance Fund copyright: --- culture: England, 18th century technique: black chalk with extensive stump work with traces of white gouache department: Drawings collection: DR - British type: Drawing find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * Thomas Gainsborough (British, 1727–1788) - artist --- measurements: Sheet: 46.8 x 35.3 cm (18 7/16 x 13 7/8 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: description: heavy wove paper watermarks: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Year in Review, 1976 opening date: 1977-02-01T05:00:00 Year in Review, 1976. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 1-March 6, 1977). title: Idea to Image: Preparatory Studies from the Renaissance to Impressionism opening date: 1980-02-19T05:00:00 Idea to Image: Preparatory Studies from the Renaissance to Impressionism. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (February 19-March 23, 1980). title: 18th Century Master Drawings opening date: 1981-10-06T04:00:00 18th Century Master Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (October 6-November 22, 1981). title: Northern European Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art opening date: 1982-11-16T05:00:00 Northern European Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 16, 1982-January 9, 1983). title: National Schools of Style opening date: 1983-06-14T04:00:00 National Schools of Style. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 14-September 18, 1983). title: British Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art opening date: 2013-02-10T00:00:00 British Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art . The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 10-May 26, 2013). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE R. P. Roupell, London date: ?-? footnotes: citations: (sale, Christie's, London, July 14, 1887, no. 1331, sold to Thibaudeau) date: 1887 footnotes: *
As Study for the Portrait of a Lady.
citations: Thibaudeau date: 1887-? footnotes: citations: Henry J. Pfungst, London date: ?-1917 footnotes: citations: (sale, Christie's, London, June 15, 1917, no. 30, sold to Connell) date: 1917 footnotes: citations: Connell date: 1917-? footnotes: citations: Andrew T. Reid, Auchterarder date: ?-by 1933 footnotes: citations: (Oscar and Peter Johnson Fine Art, London) date: after 1933-? footnotes: citations: (Otto Wertheimer Gallery, Paris, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH) date: ?-1976 footnotes: citations: Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: 1976- footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: The sitter for this portrait, Sarah Siddons, was the subject of a competition between Thomas Gainsborough and his rival Sir Joshua Reynolds, who exhibited a portrait of the actress at the Royal Academy the year before this drawing was made. digital description: Although Thomas Gainsborough produced about a thousand portraits in oil, the artist typically worked directly on the canvas rather than making preparatory drawings of his sitters. This study, so closely related to the artist’s finished painting of the famous actress Mrs. Sarah Siddons, is highly unusual. One scholar has hypothesized that because the portrait was not made on commission but conceived for an exhibition in his studio, Gainsborough may have had only a single sitting with the celebrated actress, and knew he would he would have to rely on the drawing as a basis for the finished work. wall description: Although Gainsborough produced about a thousand portraits in oil, the artist typically worked directly on the canvas rather than making preparatory drawings of his sitters. This study, so closely related to the artist’s finished painting of the famous actress, Mrs. Sarah Siddons, is highly unusual. One scholar has hypothesized that because the portrait was not made on commission but conceived for an exhibition in his studio, Gainsborough may have had only a single sitting with the celebrated actress, and knew he would he would have to rely on the drawing as a basis for the finished work. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Reid, Andrew T. The Collection of Pictures Formed by Andrew T. Reid of Auchterarder. Glasgow: Andrew T. Reid, 1933. page number: Mentioned and reproduced: V, 5 url: Hayes, John. The Drawings of Thomas Gainsborough. New Haven: Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art by Yale University Press, 1971. page number: Mentioned: vol. 1, pp. 128-9, no. 64 url: The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. page number: Reproduced: p. 193 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n213 Johnson, Mark M. Idea to Image: Preparatory Studies from the Renaissance to Impressionism. Exh. Cat. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1980. page number: Mentioned: pp. 56-59, no. 67; Reproduced: p. 57 url: Breitman, Ellen. Art and the Stage. Exh. Cat. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1981. page number: Mentioned: p. 41; Reproduced: fig. 7 url: Egerton, Judy. The British School. London: National Gallery Publications, 1998. page number: Mentioned: p. 166; Reproduced: fig. 1 url: Radford, Ron. Island to Empire: 300 Years of British Art, 1550-1850. Exh. Cat. Adelaide: Art Gallery of South Australia, 2005. page number: Mentioned and reproduced: p. 152 url: Lemonedes, Heather. British Drawings: The Cleveland Museum of Art. Exh. Cat. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2013. page number: Mentioned: pp. 38-41, 145-6, no. 9b; Reproduced: p. 41 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1976.6/1976.6_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1976.6/1976.6_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1976.6/1976.6_full.tif