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Dec 17, 2007

Portrait of Mary Wise

c. 1774

Thomas Gainsborough

(British, 1727–1788)

England, 18th century

Oil on canvas

Unframed: 76.2 x 63.6 cm (30 x 25 1/16 in.)

The Elisabeth Severance Prentiss Collection 1944.82

Location

203B British Painting and Decorative Arts

Did you know?

The portrait shows Mary in her twenties, with her hair powdered fashionably grey.

Description

Mary’s modest and contemplative demeanor is a counterpoint to a rather elaborate ensemble consisting of a gown embroidered with gold flower sprigs, trimmed with lace and pearls, and tied with a gold sash, as well as a gold-striped veil and a bracelet with eight gold bands. Gainsborough’s compact oval format and the sitter’s informal pose lend this portrait an air of intimacy.

Provenance

around 1776-?

Mrs. Henry Christopher Wise (née Mary Wathen) [born 1751] by descent to her great-granddaughter, Catherine Waller

?-1892

Catherine [1804-1861] and Sir Thomas Wathen Waller, 2nd Bt [1805-1892], by descent to their grandson, Sir Francis Grant Waller

1892-1910

Sir Francis Grant Waller, 4th Bt, sold to Agnew

1910

(Agnew, London, sold to Duveen) ¹

1910

(Duveen, through Romer Williams) ²

(F. Kleinberger Galleries, New York, NY)

1913

(Duveen)

?-1944

Elizabeth Severance Prentiss Allen [1865-1944], Cleveland, OH, bequeathed by her to the Cleveland Museum of Art

1944-

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Provenance Footnotes

¹purchased by Agnew on May 11, 1910

²purchased by Duveen through Romer Williams on June 2, 1910

Citations

Belsey, Hugh. Thomas Gainsborough: The Portraits, Fancy Pictures and Copies After Old Masters. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2019. p. 884-885.

Gainsborough, Thomas. Portrait of Mrs. Wise by Thomas Gainsborough, R.A., 1727-1788. Paris, France, New York, NY: F. Kleinberger Galleries, [date of publication not identified].

Graves, Algernon. The Royal Academy of Arts; A Complete Dictionary of Contributors and Their Work from Its Foundation in 1769 to 1904. London, United Kingdom: H. Graves and Co, 1905. Reproduced: p. 192, vol. III

Catalogue of the Elisabeth Severance Prentiss Collection : Bequest of Elisabeth Severance Prentiss, 1944. [Cleveland]: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1944. Reproduced: p. [20], Plate VIII, cat. no. 5; Mentioned: p. 22, cat. no. 5 archive.org

Waterhouse, Ellis K. "Preliminary Check List of Portraits by Thomas Gainsborough." The Walpole Society, XXXIII (1948-1950) Reproduced: p. 114

Waterhouse, Ellis Kirkham. Gainsborough. London, United Kingdom: E. Hulton, 1958. Reproduced: p. 96, no. 729

The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Catalogue of Paintings, Part 3: European Paintings of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1982. Mentioned: p. 187-189; Reproduced: p. 188

Whitley, William T. Thomas Gainsborough. London: Unicorn, 2016. Reproduced: P. 157

Belsey, Hugh. Thomas Gainsborough: The Portraits, Fancy Pictures and Copies After Old Masters. New Haven : Published for the Paul mellon Centre for Studies in British Art by Yale University Press, 2019. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 884-886, cat. 956

Francis, Henry S. "Paintings in the Pretiss Bequest."The Bulletin of The Cleveland Museum of Art XXXI, no. 6 (June, 1944): 87-89. Mentioned: p. 89

Exhibition history

Royal Academy, Burlington House, London, United Kingdom (1778).

Second National Exhibition, Woman and Child in Art, Grosvenor Gallery, London, United Kingdom (1913-1914).

British Gallery Reinstallation (June 2020). The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer).

Cite this page

{{cite web|title=Portrait of Mary Wise|url=https://clevelandart.org/art/1944.82|author=Thomas Gainsborough|year=c. 1774|access-date=08 December 2023|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

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Portrait of Mary Wise

Portrait of Mary Wise

Thomas Gainsborough

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Description

Provenance Footnotes

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