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Master Alexander Mackenzie
recto overall
recto overall

Master Alexander Mackenzie

Artist Henry Raeburn (Scottish, 1756 - 1823)
Date1822
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsUnframed: 30 × 25 inches (76.2 × 63.5 cm)
Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust
Object number32-101
SignedNone
On View
Not on view
Gallery Location
  • 124
Collections
DescriptionBust-length portrait of a youth with brown curly hair, wearing dark greenish-colored coat, yellow vest, and loose, white, frilled collar.Exhibition History

Exhibition of the Works of Sir Henry Raeburn, The Royal Academy, National Galleries, Edinburgh, October-November 1876.


Child through Four Centuries: Portraits of Children, 17th to 20th Centuries; for the Benefit of the Public Education Association, Wildenstein and Co., New York, March 1-28, 1945, no. 21, as Master Alexander Mackenzie.

Provenance

Commissioned from the artist by the sitter’s father, Colin Mackenzie (1770-1830), Portmore, Peebleshire, Scotland, 1822-1830;

 

Probably by descent to his son, William Forbes Mackenzie (1807-1862), Portmore, Peebleshire, Scotland, 1830-1862 [1];

 

By descent to his son, Colin James Mackenzie (1835-1896), Portmore, Peebleshire, Scotland, 1862-1896;

 

Mackenzie Estate, 1896-1918 [2];

 

Purchased from Colin J. Mackenzie’s posthumous sale, Early British Pictures, the Property of the late Colin J. Mackenzie, and Pictures, the Property of Lady Falle; Also Old Pictures and Drawings from Various Sources, Christie, Manson and Woods, London, March 22, 1918, by Thomas Agnew and Sons, London, 1918;

 

A. R. Jones, by May 1, 1932 [3];

 

Purchased from A. R. Jones by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1932.

 

NOTES:

 

[1] The sitter died at age 17. His younger brother, William Forbes Mackenzie, inherited his father’s estate, which probably included this portrait.

 

[2] According to the Annual Report of the County Borough of Brighton (1907), the trustees of Colin Mackenzie’s widow, Catherine Alice Mackenzie (née Wauchope, b. ca. 1851), loaned the painting to the Municipal Art Gallery in Brighton. It is unclear what, if any, control Mrs. Mackenzie had over the painting.  The painting remained on long-term loan at the Gallery in Brighton from 1907-1918.

 

[3] See Entry document in NAMA curatorial files.

Published References

Sir Walter Armstrong, Sir Henry Raeburn (London: William Heinemann, 1901), 107, as Mackenzie, Alexander, younger, of Portmore, son of Colin Mackenzie.

 

James Greig, Sir Henry Raeburn, R.A.: His Life and Works with a Catalogue of His Pictures (London: The Connoisseur, 1911), 52, erroneously as Mackenzie, Colin, the younger, of Portmore.

 

Algernon Graves, A Century of Loan Exhibitions, 1813-1912, vol. III, R to U (London: Graves, 1913), 977.

 

Catalogue of Early British Pictures, the Property of the late Colin J. Mackenzie, and Pictures, the Property of Lady Falle; Also Old Pictures and Drawings from Various Sources (London: Christie, Manson and Woods, 1918).

 

H.C. Marillier, “Christie’s”: 1766-1925 (London: Constable, 1926), 170, as Master Alexander Mackenzie, his son.

 

“How Raeburn at Age of 67 Painted Youth,” in “Nelson Gallery of Art Special Number,” The Art Digest 8, no. 5 (December 1, 1933): 18, (repro.), as Master Alexander MacKenzie.

 

“Complete Catalogue of Paintings and Drawings,” in “The William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art, Kansas City Special Number,” The Art News 32, no. 10 (December 9, 1933): 28, as Master Alexander MacKenzie.

 

The William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, Handbook of the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art (Kansas City, MO: William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 1933), 57-58, (repro.), as Master Alexander MacKenzie.

 

“One of the most important purchases,” Musical Bulletin 24, no. 6 (March 1936): 11, as Alexander Mackenzie.


The William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, The William Rockhill Nelson Collection, 2nd ed. (Kansas City, MO: William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 1941), 67, 70, (repro.), as Master Alexander MacKenzie.

 

Child through Four Centuries: Portraits of Children, 17th to 20th Centuries; for the Benefit of the Public Education Association, exh. cat. (New York: Wildenstein, 1945), as Master Alexander Mackenzie.

 

The William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, The William Rockhill Nelson Collection, 3rd ed. (Kansas City, MO: William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 1949), 85, (repro.), as Master Alexander MacKenzie.

 

Ross E. Taggart, ed., Handbook of the Collections in the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 4th ed. (Kansas City, MO: William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 1959), 132, (repro.), as Master Alexander MacKenzie.

 

Gerald Reitlinger, The Economics of Taste: The Rise and Fall of Picture Prices 1760-1960 (London: Barrie and Rockliff, 1961), 417.

 

Ross E. Taggart and George L. McKenna, eds., Handbook of the Collections in The William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, Kansas City, Missouri, vol. 1, Art of the Occident, 5th ed. (Kansas City, MO: William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 1973), 155, (repro.), as Master Alexander MacKenzie.

 

John D. Morse, Old Master Paintings in North America (New York: Abbeville Press, 1979), 220, as Master Alexander MacKenzie.
Information about a particular artwork or image, including provenance information, is based upon historic information and may not be currently accurate or complete. Research on artwork and images is an ongoing process, and the information about a particular artwork or image may not reflect the most current information available to the Museum. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about a particular artwork or image, please e-mail provenance@nelson-atkins.org.


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