The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 17, 2024
Self-Portrait
1802
(British, 1741–1811)
Framed: 7 x 5.7 cm (2 3/4 x 2 1/4 in.); Unframed: 6.9 x 5.4 cm (2 11/16 x 2 1/8 in.)
The Edward B. Greene Collection 1952.95
Location: not on view
Did You Know?
John Smart signed this self-portrait with his initials in the lower left along with the date it was made, 1802.Description
This self-portrait depicts the artist’s almost full face with blue-gray eyes; gray, curly hair and sideburns; and a ruddycomplexion. In spite of the fact that it was no longer in fashion, the powder on his collar indicates that even in 1802 John Smart continued to powder his hair. He wears a dark blue coat with brass buttons; white stock collar, bow, and frill; and deep yellow waistcoat. Arthur Jaffé has argued that the yellow waistcoat also seen in Smart’s portrait in the National Gallery, London, indicates his Whiggish political proclivities. The background of the miniature is yellowish gray, and it is signed at the lower left: “JS / 1802.” The silver-gilt frame is probably original, but the gold monogram JS, placed over an opalescent background, may have been added later.
The portrait was formerly in the collection of William Henry Bose, who was Smart’s great-grandson. The Bose collection of Smart sketches and preparatory studies was sold 15 February 1937 at Christie’s, London, but the self-portrait was retained and lent to the Victoria and Albert Museum. In her biography of Smart, Daphne Foskett notes that in 1913 William Bose received a letter from the Reynolds Galleries in London informing him that “Smart’s miniatures were not then selling quite as well as they formerly did, and that the average price of a male portrait was from £20 to £30 and for a lady, young and good-looking, from £30 to £70.” In 1947, over three decades later, the market had revived, and the self-portrait sold for £360.
In her Dictionary of British Miniature Painters, Foskett notes that Smart painted nine self-portraits, but she does not list them. Having executed at least nine self-portraits during two decades of his mature career, Smart seemed more invested in recording his changing likeness than most of his miniature-painting contemporaries. This attitude of consistent introspection and careful attention to the conservation of his skills outside of the pressures of a commission is in keeping with his practice of executing and retaining highly finished preliminary studies of his sitters for their portraits.
In each of his self-portraits, Smart is conservatively dressed and coiffed, with the ruddy complexion and slightly amused expression found in so many of the portraits he painted. Portraits of Smart by other artists reiterate both the humor
and intensity seen in the self-portraits.
- 1802-1811Collection of the Artist, John Smart (1741-1811), by inheritance to his son, John James Smart1811-1870John James Smart (1805-1870), by inheritance to his daughter Mary Ann Bose1870-1934Mary Ann Bose (née Smart, 1856–1934), by inheritance to her son William H. Bose1934-1945William H. Bose (1875-1957)December 17, 1945(Sale: Christie's London, December 17, 1945, lot 18).1945-1947Robert H. Rocklliff (d. 1963)November 11, 1945(Sale: Sotheby's London, November 11, 1945, lot 119).-1948H.E. Backer, dealer, London, England on commission1948-Dr. C.H. Samuelson, Greenacre, Exeter. England-1952Edward B. Greene (1878-1957), Cleveland, OH, gifted to the Cleveland Museum of Art1952-The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Christie, Manson & Woods. Miniatures, Objects of Art and Vertu. 1945. Lot 18Sotheby's (Firm). Fine Portrait Miniatures, Enamels and Snuff Boxes. 1947. lot 119, pl. VICleveland Museum of Art, and Edward Belden Greene. Portrait Miniatures ; The Edward B. Greene Collection. 1951. p. 30, no. 34, pl. IXBurchfield, Louise H. “Portrait Miniatures.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 41, no. 2 (1954). p. 22, 26 www.jstor.org“Three Paintings Recently Acquired.” Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts 52, no. 290 (1954). p. 90 www.jstor.orgJaffé, Arthur. “John Smart, Miniature Painter—1741(?)–1811: His Life and Iconography.” Art Quarterly XVII, no. 3 (Autumn 1954). fig. 10, pp. 249, 251, 254Foskett, Daphne. John Smart: the Man and His Miniatures. [London]: Cory, Adams & Mackay, 1964. fi g. 6 (repr.), pl. IIIFoskett, Daphne. A Dictionary of British Miniature Painters. London: Faber and Faber, 1972. vol. 1, pp. 513–16; vol. II, no. 840, pl. 336Cleveland Museum of Art, and Alan Chong. European & American Painting in the Cleveland Museum of Art: A Summary Catalogue. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1993. p. 305Korkow, Cory, and Dario Robleto. Disembodied: Portrait Miniatures and Their Contemporary Relatives. 2013. Mentioned: p. 81Korkow, Cory, and Jon L. Seydl. British Portrait Miniatures: The Cleveland Museum of Art. 2013. Cat. no. 34, pp. 156-159Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 197
- Disembodied: Portrait Minatures and their Contemporary Relatives. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 10, 2013-February 16, 2014).Main European Rotation (Gallery 202), The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (January 30, 2012 - July 23, 2012). [Verso on display]Main Gallery Rotation (Gallery 202), The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (January 5, 2009 - April 6, 2009).Intimate Images: Portrait Miniatures from Europe and America. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 26-October 17, 1993).
- {{cite web|title=Self-Portrait|url=false|author=John I Smart|year=1802|access-date=17 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1952.95