id: 160119 accession number: 1997.80 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1997.80 updated: 2022-04-02 09:00:50.212000 Portrait of Sir John Macpherson, 1st Baronet, Governor-General of India, 1787. John I Smart (British, 1741-1811). Watercolor and gouache heightened with white gouache on paper; sheet: 9.1 x 7.9 cm (3 9/16 x 3 1/8 in.); image: 8.8 x 7.6 cm (3 7/16 x 3 in.); secondary support: 18.1 x 16 cm (7 1/8 x 6 5/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Mrs. A. Dean Perry 1997.80 title: Portrait of Sir John Macpherson, 1st Baronet, Governor-General of India title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1787 creation date earliest: 1787 creation date latest: 1787 current location: creditline: Bequest of Mrs. A. Dean Perry copyright: --- culture: England, 18th century technique: watercolor and gouache heightened with white gouache on paper department: Drawings collection: DR - British type: Portrait Miniature find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * John I Smart (British, 1741-1811) - artist John Smart is often regarded as the most skilled painter of portrait miniatures at the height of the art form’s popularity in late-eighteenth-century Britain. While the free style and white and blue color palette of his rival Richard Cosway (1742–1821) conjured up the glamour of fashionable society, Smart’s attention to minute detail, saturated colors, and frank conveyance of likeness and character attracted a different type of clientele, one who prized these qualities
above Cosway’s homogenized modishness.
Information is limited about Smart’s life and career, so much so that while G. C. Williamson had penned the definitive biographies of Cosway, George Engleheart (1752–1829), and Andrew Plimer (1763–1837) by 1905, it wasn’t until 1964 that a biography of Smart appeared. Little is known about the artist’s early training beyond evidence suggesting that before the age of fourteen, he was winning prizes from the Society of Arts for his drawings and, like Cosway, was an apprentice in William Shipley’s London school in St. Martin’s Lane. Smart exhibited for several years as an active member and eventually president of the Society of Artists of Great Britain before seeking his fortune as a miniature painter in India, where he lived between 1785 and 1795, hoping to secure patronage from wealthy princes and those
involved in England’s growing trade market. Works from this period are signed with the initial I, signifying India.
Unlike Cosway, an ostentatious showman, Smart lived and worked quietly, settling in London after his return from India and exhibiting at the Royal Academy. His style, which changed little throughout his career, is characterized by a meticulous description of a sitter’s countenance through the use of delicate stippling, often featuring wrinkles, crow’s feet around the eyes, and a slightly upturned mouth that suggests joviality. Unlike his contemporaries Cosway, Engleheart, and Plimer, whose backgrounds most often featured blue and white cloudy skies, Smart painted his backgrounds in varying shades of browns, greens, and grays. The size of the artist’s miniatures expanded over time, measuring around 11/ 2 inches until about 1775, then 2 inches until around 1790, and 3 inches thereafter. Though
highly sought after in his time, Smart’s work grew even more popular among collectors following his death. The Cleveland Museum of Art has a total of twenty-three portraits by Smart: seven gentlemen sitters painted on ivory and sixteen preparatory drawings of men and women. Of the seven miniatures on ivory, two date from 1770, three from
Smart’s years in India, and two after his 1795 return to London. --- measurements: Sheet: 9.1 x 7.9 cm (3 9/16 x 3 1/8 in.); Image: 8.8 x 7.6 cm (3 7/16 x 3 in.); Secondary Support: 18.1 x 16 cm (7 1/8 x 6 5/16 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: description: beige(1) wove (?) paper, hinged to cream-yellow board watermarks: inscriptions: inscription: signed, lower right, in black ink: J S / 1787 / Madras ; VERSO, lower right, in graphite: 6 1/8 x 6 7/8 Foskett, Daphne. John Smart: The Man and His Miniatures, pp. 13, 76, 89. London: Cory, Adams & Mackay, 1964. translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE John Smart (1741-1811); by inheritance to his son John James Smart date: Until 1811 footnotes: citations: John James Smart (1805-1870); by inheritance to his daughter Mary Ann Bose date: 1811-70 footnotes: citations: Mary Ann Bose (née Smart, 1856-1934).; by inheritance to her son William Henry Bose date: 1870-1934 footnotes: citations: William Henry Bose (1875-1957), great-grandson of the artist date: 1934-37 footnotes: citations: Sale: Christie’s, London, February 15, 1937 (lot 43) date: February 15, 1937 footnotes: citations: Colnaghi, London, England date: after 1937 footnotes: citations: Edward B. Greene (1878-1957, Cleveland); by inheritance to his daughter Helen Perry date: before 1957 footnotes: citations: Helen Perry (née Greene, 1911-1996, Cleveland). date: c. 1957-96 footnotes: citations: Estate of Mrs. A. Dean Perry (Helen Perry); gifted to the Cleveland Museum of Art date: 1996-97 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: 1997- footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: John Smart retained hundreds of sketches which were passed down in turn to his son, granddaughter, and great-grandchildren. digital description: wall description: The sitter’s head and shoulders face left. He smiles slightly and has light blue eyes, with his powdered hair curled above the ear and tied en queue. He wears a green jacket edged in gold with gold buttons and dons a high white collar, a waistcoat, and a frilled cravat, each highlighted with white gouache. The nature of this work as a finished
drawing rather than exclusively a preparatory sketch for a miniature on ivory is evident in the degree of finish of the sitter’s clothing, which is painted to the oval termination within a border of pale blue gouache. A Colnaghi label was removed from the verso after the work entered the museum’s collection.
Sir John Macpherson (1745–1821) was the son of a Scottish minister. His many tours of service with the East India Company were marred by corruption and scandal. He was made acting governor-general of India in 1785–86 between the resignation of Warren Hastings (1732–1818) and the succession by Lord Cornwallis (1738–1805). Macpherson
was created a baronet in 1786 when he was removed from office, returning to England shortly thereafter. He was an inveterate bachelor, popular in society for his handsomeness, charm, and facility with languages, but also known for his avarice and fraudulence.
The work is signed with Smart’s initials and dated “1787 Madras” at the lower right. Macpherson was no longer governor-general in 1787 and would have been preparing to return to England when this portrait was painted. The drawing is inscribed on the back in the artist’s hand: “a sketch of Sir John Macpherson painted at Madras, 1787, on his
passage from Bengall [sic] to England by Jno [sic] Smart.” Smart did not return to England until 1795, so the word passage must be defined as “on his journey” rather than “aboard ship.” At the time this portrait was taken, Macpherson was grappling with his premature removal from office and beginning to plot what would become many years of negotiations to regain his position or receive compensation for having lost it, though none of this emotional turmoil is visible in Smart’s portrait. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Christie, Manson & Woods. Sketches and Studies for Miniature Portraits by John Smart; Objects of Art & Vertu. London: Christie, Manson & Woods, 1937. page number: lot 43 url: Foskett, Daphne. John Smart: the Man and His Miniatures. [London]: Cory, Adams & Mackay, 1964. page number: pp. 19, 70, 84 url: Korkow, Cory, and Jon L. Seydl. British Portrait Miniatures: The Cleveland Museum of Art. 2013. page number: Cat. no. 48, pp. 196-198 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1997.80/1997.80_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1997.80/1997.80_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1997.80/1997.80_full.tif