{"id":12317,"date":"2019-01-10T10:54:39","date_gmt":"2019-01-10T10:54:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/?p=12317"},"modified":"2019-01-10T12:22:54","modified_gmt":"2019-01-10T12:22:54","slug":"art-detective-learning-more-about-british-portraits-by-dr-marion-richards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/blog\/art-detective-learning-more-about-british-portraits-by-dr-marion-richards\/","title":{"rendered":"Art Detective: learning more about British portraits by Dr Marion Richards"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2018The National Portrait Exhibition having led to the exposure of so many errors with regard to the portraits of British worthies and the artists who painted them \u2013 it turning out in many cases that the names given were in both respects altogether wrong \u2013 it has been suggested that county magnates and others interested in local history should exhibit \u2026 the innumerable portraits which are gathered in so many country seats and houses. By subjecting the portraits of their ancestors to the searching examination of competent critics, they would have the satisfaction of knowing which were genuine and which were not.\u2019<\/p>\n

(South London Press<\/em>, 30th June 1866).*<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I recently joined this Subject Specialist Network because trying to identify correctly portrait painters and their sitters is a key aspect of my work as Art Detective Officer at Art UK<\/a>. My first meeting, at Ham House<\/a> on 20 November 2018, included fascinating insights into portraits by Peter Lely and John Constable; the National Trust\u2019s willingness to experiment boldly with its display practice in traditional settings; a tour of the fabulous portrait collection of Ham House; and a viewing of Lionel Tollemache\u2019s clothing, vividly described and explained by historical dress specialist Jenny Tiramani. The meeting was an excellent opportunity for me to chat to curators about the benefits of collaborating with Art Detective, where time and resources are scarce.<\/p>\n

Art Detective<\/a> connects public art collections with members of the public and providers of specialist knowledge to address the problem of gaps in our knowledge of public art \u2013 which has specific relevance considering that about 80% of our public art is in store. People contact us daily with helpful updates and corrections, but we also run a discussion forum, one of whose main aims is to identify unknown artists and sitters. The unique value of Art UK is that the works of a single artist or group of artists can be compared easily on this one website.<\/p>\n

This is not only an art-historical exercise. I am looking into 16 portraits from a list put together a few years ago by the Visual Geometry Group at the University of Oxford, which used a sample of Art UK\u2019s database to test image recognition tools. The software was able to detect facial similarities in sitters and highlighted discrepancies, some of which may be easily resolved, while others could benefit from being discussed.<\/p>\n

\"2.

2. British (English) School, Portrait of an Unknown Old Man in Black, with a Stick, 18th C, oil on canvas, 74 x 62 cm. National Trust, Bodysgallen Hall \u00a9 National Trust Images<\/p><\/div>\n

For example, Hertsmere Borough Council\u2019s Portrait of a Man in a Brown Jacket<\/em> (identified as J. J. M.)<\/a>, attributed to John Opie, was matched to Manchester Art Gallery\u2019s self-portrait by Daniel Stringer (Fig 1). The National Trust\u2019s 18th-century British School Portrait of an Unknown Old Man with a Stick<\/em> (Fig 2) was matched with Benjamin Buckler (1717\u201380), in the collection of All Soul\u2019s College, University of Oxford \u2013 an identification substantiated by the college\u2019s other, younger, portrait of Buckler<\/a> (apparently in his late 50s), thought to be by Thomas Gainsborough. Among the eight portraits of women is a pairing of the National Trust\u2019s British School Portrait of an Unknown Lady in Blue<\/em> (inscribed \u2018Lady Compton\u2019?) with Isabella Machell (1688\u20131721), Viscountess Irwin<\/em><\/a>, c.1685\u20131690, attributed to John Closterman and at Temple Newsom House (Fig. 3).<\/p>\n

\"3.

3. British (English) School, Portrait of an Unknown Lady in Blue, late 17th C, oil on canvas, 127 x 101.5 cm. National Trust, Treasurer\u2019s House, York \u00a9 National Trust Images<\/p><\/div>\n

Researching nineteenth- and twentieth-century portraits can be less challenging, and we have a good success rate. A previously unknown sitter was recently identified as Colonel Oscar Viney (1886\u20131976)<\/a>, High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire and chairman of one of the country’s leading print companies. The unknown artist of this accomplished portrait was found to be William Dring (1904\u20131990) who showed it at the Royal Academy in 1958 \u2026 yet it ended up in a skip, from which it was fortunately rescued and repaired! Maev Kennedy has recently written the engaging story<\/a> of its near demise and resurrection.<\/p>\n

One contributor has been updating us on portraits by the German-born British artist Hubert von Herkomer (1849\u20131914) and his cousin Herman Herkomer (1863\u20131935), several of which were wrongly attributed (to one or other cousin, or not known to be by either). More than two thirds of the 244 paintings on Art UK attributed to Hubert von Herkomer are portraits, which he signed with a distinctive double \u2018H\u2019 \u2013 the combined collections on Art UK make such comparisons easier than in the past. This portrait of George Phillips, oriental scholar and former President of Queens\u2019 College, Cambridge, was one of those whose artist was amended from Herman to Hubert, based on the signature (Figs 4 & 5).<\/p>\n

\"4.

4. Hubert von Herkomer, George Phillips, Oriental Scholar, Fellow (1831\u20131846), President (1857\u20131892), oil on canvas, 74 x 61 cm. Queens\u2019 College, University of Cambridge. Photo credit: Queens\u2019 College, University of Cambridge.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"5.

5. Hubert von Herkomer, George Phillips, Oriental Scholar, Fellow (1831\u20131846), President (1857\u20131892) (detail of signature). Photo credit: Queens\u2019 College, University of Cambridge<\/p><\/div>\n

It goes without saying that all decisions about changes to artwork titles and all new attributions are made with the help of curators, who are usually able to examine each painting in person. In some cases, the only way to be sure is to invite a specialist on a specific artist. Van Dyck expert Susan J. Barnes will soon be visiting the Walker Art Gallery\u2019s \u2018studio of Van Dyck\u2019 portrait of the Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia to try to resolve an Art Detective discussion<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Our Group Leaders include curators, academics, dealers and writers on art, whose specialisations are broad ranging. New information arising from public discussions is carefully assessed before being added to the databases of both the collection and Art UK.<\/p>\n

Membership of Understanding British Portraits will give me the chance to learn more about British portraiture (my background has been mainly European painting) and to develop a good working relationship with participating curators. I was delighted that my first meeting at UBP led directly to updating some portrait records for Ham House and I look forward very much to working closely with the National Trust and many other collections in 2019.<\/p>\n

\n

* With thanks to Kieran Owens for this excerpt from the South London Press.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2018The National Portrait Exhibition having led to the exposure of so many errors with regard to the portraits of British worthies and the artists who painted them \u2013 it turning out in many cases that the names given were in both respects altogether wrong \u2013 it has been suggested that county magnates and others interested […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":100,"featured_media":12319,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[85,107,181,109,80,94,269],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nArt Detective: learning more about British portraits by Dr Marion Richards - Understanding British Portraits<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/blog\/art-detective-learning-more-about-british-portraits-by-dr-marion-richards\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Art Detective: learning more about British portraits by Dr Marion Richards - Understanding British Portraits\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u2018The National Portrait Exhibition having led to the exposure of so many errors with regard to the portraits of British worthies and the artists who painted them \u2013 it turning out in many cases that the names given were in both respects altogether wrong \u2013 it has been suggested that county magnates and others interested […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/blog\/art-detective-learning-more-about-british-portraits-by-dr-marion-richards\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Understanding British Portraits\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-01-10T10:54:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-01-10T12:22:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/D-Stringer.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"673\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dr Marion Richards\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dr Marion Richards\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/blog\/art-detective-learning-more-about-british-portraits-by-dr-marion-richards\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/blog\/art-detective-learning-more-about-british-portraits-by-dr-marion-richards\/\",\"name\":\"Art Detective: learning more about British portraits by Dr Marion Richards - Understanding British Portraits\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/blog\/art-detective-learning-more-about-british-portraits-by-dr-marion-richards\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/blog\/art-detective-learning-more-about-british-portraits-by-dr-marion-richards\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/D-Stringer.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-01-10T10:54:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-01-10T12:22:54+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/76cb7cba00a953d56f0869a3da7b0f9a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/blog\/art-detective-learning-more-about-british-portraits-by-dr-marion-richards\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/blog\/art-detective-learning-more-about-british-portraits-by-dr-marion-richards\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/blog\/art-detective-learning-more-about-british-portraits-by-dr-marion-richards\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/D-Stringer.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/D-Stringer.jpg\",\"width\":673,\"height\":800,\"caption\":\"1. Daniel Stringer, Self Portrait, c.1776, oil on canvas, 92.5 x 80 cm. Manchester Art Gallery. Photo credit: Manchester Art Gallery\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/blog\/art-detective-learning-more-about-british-portraits-by-dr-marion-richards\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Art Detective: learning more about British portraits by Dr Marion Richards\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/\",\"name\":\"Understanding British Portraits\",\"description\":\"For professionals working with British portraits including curators, museum learning professionals, researchers, academics and conservators\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/76cb7cba00a953d56f0869a3da7b0f9a\",\"name\":\"Dr Marion Richards\",\"description\":\"Dr Marion Richards, Art Detective Officer, Art UK\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Art Detective: learning more about British portraits by Dr Marion Richards - Understanding British Portraits","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/blog\/art-detective-learning-more-about-british-portraits-by-dr-marion-richards\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Art Detective: learning more about British portraits by Dr Marion Richards - Understanding British Portraits","og_description":"\u2018The National Portrait Exhibition having led to the exposure of so many errors with regard to the portraits of British worthies and the artists who painted them \u2013 it turning out in many cases that the names given were in both respects altogether wrong \u2013 it has been suggested that county magnates and others interested […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/blog\/art-detective-learning-more-about-british-portraits-by-dr-marion-richards\/","og_site_name":"Understanding British Portraits","article_published_time":"2019-01-10T10:54:39+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-01-10T12:22:54+00:00","og_image":[{"width":673,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/D-Stringer.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Dr Marion Richards","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dr Marion Richards","Estimated reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/blog\/art-detective-learning-more-about-british-portraits-by-dr-marion-richards\/","url":"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/blog\/art-detective-learning-more-about-british-portraits-by-dr-marion-richards\/","name":"Art Detective: learning more about British portraits by Dr Marion Richards - Understanding British Portraits","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/blog\/art-detective-learning-more-about-british-portraits-by-dr-marion-richards\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/blog\/art-detective-learning-more-about-british-portraits-by-dr-marion-richards\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/D-Stringer.jpg","datePublished":"2019-01-10T10:54:39+00:00","dateModified":"2019-01-10T12:22:54+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/76cb7cba00a953d56f0869a3da7b0f9a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/blog\/art-detective-learning-more-about-british-portraits-by-dr-marion-richards\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/blog\/art-detective-learning-more-about-british-portraits-by-dr-marion-richards\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/blog\/art-detective-learning-more-about-british-portraits-by-dr-marion-richards\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/D-Stringer.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/D-Stringer.jpg","width":673,"height":800,"caption":"1. Daniel Stringer, Self Portrait, c.1776, oil on canvas, 92.5 x 80 cm. Manchester Art Gallery. Photo credit: Manchester Art Gallery"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/blog\/art-detective-learning-more-about-british-portraits-by-dr-marion-richards\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Art Detective: learning more about British portraits by Dr Marion Richards"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/","name":"Understanding British Portraits","description":"For professionals working with British portraits including curators, museum learning professionals, researchers, academics and conservators","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/76cb7cba00a953d56f0869a3da7b0f9a","name":"Dr Marion Richards","description":"Dr Marion Richards, Art Detective Officer, Art UK"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/D-Stringer.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12317"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/100"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12317"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12317\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishportraits.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}