Iris Carrying the Water of the River Styx to Olympus for the Gods to Swear By
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The artist’s posthumous sale, Pictures, consisting of fine originals of the Italian and Flemish schools, accurate copies from some of the most distinguished works in Europe, as well as originals and studies by Mr. Head; also, some beautiful Greek vases, sculpture, etc., the artist’s home, London, April 27-June 27, 1801, lot 249;
With Pawsey & Payne, London, by February 17, 1967 [1];
Purchased at their sale, Paintings and Drawings c. 1800-c. 1900, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, February 17, 1967, lot 74, by Brady [2];
Private collection, Italy, by 2000 [3];
Purchased from the latter through an anonymous intermediary and Charles Beddington Ltd., London, by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2000.
NOTES:
[1] According to Jeff Pilkington, Principal Researcher, Christie’s Archives, in an email to MacKenzie Mallon, Specialist, Provenance, October 11, 2017, NAMA curatorial files.
[2] A price list included with a sale catalogue in the Richardson Memorial Library at the Saint Louis Art Museum records the buyer’s name as Brady.
[3] According to Charles Beddington, in an email to MacKenzie Mallon, March 30, 2012, NAMA curatorial files, he received the painting on consignment from an intermediary representing a private collection in Italy.
The Exhibition of the Royal Academy, MDCCC: The Thirty-Second, exh. cat. (London: Royal Academy, 1800), 13, as Iris, carrying the water of the river Styx to Olympus, for the Gods to swear by—Hesiod’s Theogony.
Catalogue of Pictures, Consisting of Fine Originals of the Italian and Flemish Schools, Accurate Copies from some of the most distinguished works in Europe, as well as Originals and Studies by Mr. Head, collected and Painted during a residence of sixteen years on the continent; Also, Some beautiful Greek Vases, Sculpture, etc. (London: J. Smeeton, printer, 1801), 12, as Iris Flying over the River Styx, with the Waters of Olympus for the Gods to swear by.
Algernon Graves, The Royal Academy of Arts: A Complete Dictionary of Contributors and their work from its foundation in 1769 to 1904, vol. 4 (London: Henry Graves and Co. Ltd. and George Bell and Sons, 1906), 53, as Iris, carrying the water of the River Styx to Olympus for the Gods to swear by—Hesiod’s Theogony.
Possibly Anatole de Montaiglon and Jules Guiffrey, eds., Correspondance des Directeurs de l’Académie de France à Rome avec les Surintendants des Bâtiments, vol. 16 (Paris: Jean Schemit, 1907), 405, erroneously as Atide.
Possibly Leslie Stephen and Sidney Lee, eds., Dictionary of National Biography, vol. 25 (New York: Macmillan, 1891), 326, as Iris.
Possibly Hugh Honour, “The Rome of Vincenzo Pacetti: Leaves from a Sculptor’s Diary,” Apollo 78 (November 1963): 376.
Paintings and Drawings c. 1800-c. 1900; The Properties of The Late Mrs. Dorothy Hatch, Miss Muriel Raeburn, and others, (London: Christie, Manson and Woods, February 17, 1967), 16, erroneously as by Howard, Iris.
L'Accademia nazionale di San Luca (Rome: L'Accademia nazionale di San Luca, 1974), 168.
Nancy L. Pressly, “Guy Head and His ‘Echo Flying from Narcissus’: A British Artist in Rome in the 1790s,” Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Art 60, nos. 3/4 (Winter 1982): 69, 71, as Iris Carrying the waters of the River Styx to Olympus for the Gods to Swear By.
Burton B. Fredericksen, ed., The Index of Paintings Sold in the British Isles during the Nineteenth Century, vol. 1 (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-Clio, 1988), 348, as Iris Flying over the River Styx, with the Waters of Olympus for the Gods to swear by.
Ann Gunn, “Guy Head’s ‘Venus and Juno,’” The Burlington Magazine 133, no. 1061 (August 1991): 511-13, (repro.), as Iris carrying the waters of the River Styx to Olympus for the Gods to swear by.
Frank Salmon, “Guy Head’s ‘Oedipus’ in the Academy at Parma,” The Burlington Magazine 133, no. 1061 (August 1991): 516-17, as Iris carrying the water of the Styx to Olympus for the Gods to swear by.
Jane Turner, ed., The Dictionary of Art, vol. 14 (London: Oxford University Press, 1996), 275.
John Ingamells, A Dictionary of British and Irish Travellers in Italy 1701-1800, compiled from the Brinsley Ford Archive (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1997), 480.
Valerie Zell, “New at the Nelson: Visit the Nelson-Atkins’ Recent Breathtaking Acquisition,” Newsletter (The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art) (September 2001): 1-2, (repro.), as Iris Carrying the Water of the River Styx to Olympus for the Gods to Swear By.
Hugh Belsey, “Head, Guy,” Grove Art Online (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003), https://doi.org/10.1093/gao/9781884446054.article.T037090 .
Deborah Emont Scott, ed., The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection, 7th ed. (Kansas City, MO: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2008), 107, (repro.), as Iris Carrying the Water of the River Styx to Olympus for the Gods to Swear By.
Possibly Sarah Bartlett, Secrets of the Universe in 100 Symbols (Beverly, MA: Fair Winds Press, 2015).
