The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 19, 2024

Portrait of Colonel Charles Heathcote

Portrait of Colonel Charles Heathcote

c. 1771–72
(British, 1734–1797)
England
Oil on canvas
127 x 100 cm (50 x 39 3/8 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 2017.100
Location: 203A British Painting and Decorative Arts

Did You Know?

The handful of small-scale, full-length portraits Wright painted early in his career include his earliest experiments in landscape painting.

Description

Assuming a relaxed but commanding pose, Colonel Charles Heathcote (1734–1797) stands beside a large oak tree in the foreground of an expansive landscape. He wears military dress, the single epaulette on his right shoulder designating his rank as colonel. Wright’s composition demonstrates his new-found fascination with landscape: while the figure is relatively smoothly painted, the landscape is painted far more energetically, using thickly applied daubs of color.
  • c. 1771-2 - 1985
    Colonel Charles Heathcote (1730–1803) and by descent
    (Christie's, London, April 26, 1985, no. 113)
    Private Collection, USA
    1997
    (Sotheby's, London, November 12, 1997, no. 69)
    1999
    (Sotheby's, London, June 8, 1999, no. 13)
    2011
    (Christie's, New York, January 26, 2011, no. 35)
    2011 - 2017
    Private Collection
    2017
    (Thos. Agnew and Sons Ltd., London, from whom purchased by the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    2017-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Bemrose, William, W. Cosmo Monkhouse, and Francis Seymour Haden. The Life and Works of Joseph Wright, A.R.A., Commonly Called "Wright of Derby". London, 1885. Mentioned: p. 120
    Nicolson, Benedict. Joseph Wright of Derby: Painter of Light. London: Paul Mellon Foundation for British Art; Routledge and K. Paul, 1968. Mentioned: vol. 1, pp. 17, 36 and 203 (no. 79); Reproduced: vol. 2, pl. 115
    Egerton, Judy. In Wright of Derby, p. 75 (under no. 31). Exh. cat. London: Tate Gallery Publications, 1990.
    Egerton, Judy. National Gallery Catalogues: The British School . London: National Gallery Publications, 2000. Mentioned: p. 347
    Wright, Amina. In Joseph Wright of Derby: Bath and Beyond. Exh. cat. Bath: The Holburne Museum, 2014. Mentioned: p. 45
    Faroult, Guillaume. De Gainsborough à Turner: l'âge d'or du paysage et du portrait anglais dans les collections du musée du Louvre. Exh. cat. Musée d’Art et d’Archéologie de Valence, and Musée des Beaux-Arts de Quimper, in association with Milan: Silvana, 2014. Mentioned: p. 146 (under no. 33)
    Wieseman, Marjorie E. and Korkow, Cory. "Acquisition Highlights. European Painting and Sculpture, 1500-1800.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine vol. 58, no. 2 (March/April 2018): 21-22. Reproduced: P. 5, 22; Mentioned: P. 7, 21, 22.
    "Reimagining the British Galleries: Our curators preview the new look of the space.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine vol. 59, no. 6 (November/December 2019): 5-7. Reproduced and Mentioned: P. 7.
  • British Gallery Reinstallation (June 2020). The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer).
    Recent Acquisitions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 17-June 7, 2018).
    Recent Acquisitions 2014-2017. The Cleveland Museum of Art (March 17, 2018 - June 6, 2018)
  • {{cite web|title=Portrait of Colonel Charles Heathcote|url=false|author=Joseph Wright of Derby|year=c. 1771–72|access-date=19 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2017.100