Alternate Views

Portrait of Catherine Grey, Lady Manners

1794

Thomas Lawrence

(British, 1769-1830)

England, 18th century

Oil on canvas

Framed: 280.5 x 185 x 9 cm (110 7/16 x 72 13/16 x 3 9/16 in.); Unframed: 255.3 x 158 cm (100 1/2 x 62 3/16 in.)

Bequest of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. 1961.220

Location

203A British Painting and Decorative Arts

Description

Catherine Gray, Lady Manners, rejected this portrait representing her as the goddess Juno, symbolized here by the peacock. To make up for the loss of sale, Lawrence exhibited the painting at the Royal Academy in 1794 "to be disposed of." It did not sell and remained in his collection until after his death. Despite the rejection, the painting displays all the hallmarks of Lawrence’s flamboyant style, dazzling brushwork, and innovative use of color that helped secure his role as successor to Joshua Reynolds.

Provenance

(Duveen Brothers, 1919)

Jules S. Bach, New York, 1924

John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

Sir Thomas Lawrence (sale: Christie's, London, June 18, 1831, no. 147); Samuel Woodburn; Frederick John, Fifth Baron Monson (died 1841), and his heirs, Gatton Park, Surrey (sale: Christie's, London, May 12, 1888, no. 21, to Davis; correspondence among the Monson papers now deposited in the Lincoln County archives); William, Fifth Earl of Carysfort,1888; Lady Carysfort; Colonel Douglas James Proby (nephew of Lady Carysfort), Elton Hall, Huntingdonshire; (Duveen Brothers, 1919); Jules S. Bach, New York, 1924; John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

Colonel Douglas James Proby (nephew of Lady Carysfort), Elton Hall, Huntingdonshire

Lady Carysfort

Samuel Woodburn

Frederick John, Fifth Baron Monson (died 1841), and his heirs, Gatton Park, Surrey (sale: Christie's, London, May 12, 1888, no. 21, to Davis; correspondence among the Monson papers now deposited in the Lincoln County archives)

William, Fifth Earl of Carysfort, 1888

Sir Thomas Lawrence (sale: Christie's, London, June 18, 1831, no. 147

Citations

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 160 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 160 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 195 archive.org

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. 200; Reproduced: p. 201

Montgomery, Janelle. "Every Picture Tells a Story: A Family Chronicle in George Romney's Lady Mary Every." Transactions of the Romney Society 21, (2016).
Mentioned: p. 4-11; Reproduced: p. 9, fig. 5

Day, C.A., et. al. "Thomas Lawrence's Consumptive Chic: Reinterpretting Lady Manners Hectic Flush in 1794." Eighteenth-Century Studies 49, no. 4 (Summer 2016). Mentioned: 455-474; Reproduced: p. 456, fig. 1

Exhibition history

London, Royal Academy, 1794, cat. no. 160.

London, National Gallery, 1913/14: "Woman and child in Art, Second National Loan Exhibition," cat. no. XXIX, p. 53. illus. (Catalogue by Francis Howard).

CMA, November 1961: "Year in Review," cat., Bull., (November 1961), p. 250 no. 63a, repr. p. 222.

CMA 1963: "Style, Truth, and the Portrait," cat. no. 43, illus. (catalogue by Rémy G Saisselin).

CMA, 1965: "Juxtapositions," (no catalogue).

CMA, November 22, 1983-January 22, 1984: "Portraiture: The Image of the Individual," no catalogue.

London, Tate Gallery, October 14, 1992-January 10, 1993: " The Swagger Portrait," cat.

Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage (March 29, 2007 - July 8, 2007): "Masterpieces of European Painting from the Cleveland Museum of Art"

Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT (2/24/2011 - 6/5/2011): "Thomas Lawrence: Regency, Power & Brilliance", ex. cat. no. 9, p. 118-119.

Year in Review (1961). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (November 1-26, 1961).

Style, Truth and the Portrait. The Cleveland Museum of Art (October 2-November 19, 1963).

Juxtapositions. The Cleveland Museum of Art (September 11-October 10, 1965).

Portraiture: The Image of the Individual. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 22, 1983-January 22, 1984).

Thomas Lawrence: Regency, Power & Brilliance. Yale Center for British Art (organizer) (February 24-June 5, 2011).

Cite this page

{{cite web |title=Portrait of Catherine Grey, Lady Manners |url=https://clevelandart.org/art/1961.220 |author=Thomas Lawrence |year=1794 |access-date=23 May 2019 |publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Contact us

Request a digital file from image services

To request more information about this object, study images, or bibliography, contact the Ingalls Library Reference Desk.

The information about this object, including provenance information, is based on historic information and may not be currently accurate or complete. Research on objects is an ongoing process, but the information about this object may not reflect the most current information available to CMA. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@clevelandart.org.

Is something not working on this page? Please email help.website@clevelandart.org.

You are here:

Portrait of Catherine Grey, Lady Manners

Portrait of Catherine Grey, Lady Manners

Thomas Lawrence

England, 18th century

Location

Description

Contact us