Martin Henry Colnaghi (16 November 1821 – 1908) was a British art dealer for the London-based

Colnaghi Colnaghi is an art dealership in St James's, central London, England, which is the oldest commercial art gallery in the world, having been established in 1760. Foundation The business that became the Colnaghi gallery was established by Itali ...

Horsley - Portrait of Martin Colnaghi 01

Grave of Martin Henry Colnaghi in Highgate Cemetery

Personal life

He was born on 16 November 1821 at 23

Cockspur Street Cockspur Street is a short street in the City of Westminster, London, within which a very short part of Trafalgar Square links Charing Cross to Pall Mall/Pall Mall East at the point where that road changes name, opposite the traffic exit from ...

, London, and baptised Martino Enrico Luigi Gaetano. He was the eldest son of Martin Colnaghi and his wife, Fanny Boyce Clarke, and a grandson of Paul Colnaghi of Pall Mall. Colnaghi had three marriages, but no children. #Sarah Nash #Elizabeth Maxwell Howard (died 1888) #On 17 October 1889, he married Amy Mary Smith, daughter of the artist George Smith Colnaghi died on 27 June 1908, aged 86, at the Marlborough Gallery, and was buried on the eastern side of

Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in north London, England. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East Cemeteries. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for some of the people buried there as ...

Legacy

Colnaghi bequeathed four paintings to London's

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...

Lorenzo Lotto Lorenzo Lotto (c. 1480 – 1556/57) was an Italian Painting, painter, draughtsman, and illustrator, traditionally placed in the Venetian school (art), Venetian school, though much of his career was spent in other north Italian cities. He pain ...

's ''Madonna and Child and Saints'',

Philips Wouwerman Philips Wouwerman (also Wouwermans) (24 May 1619 (baptized) – 19 May 1668) was a Dutch painter of hunting, landscape and battle scenes. Life and work Philips Wouwerman was one of the most versatile and prolific artists of the Dutch Golden ...

's ''The Gypsies'',

Aert van der Neer Aert van der Neer, or Aernout or Artus (c. 16039 November 1677), was a landscape painter of the Dutch Golden Age, specializing in small night scenes lit only by moonlight and fires, and snowy winter landscapes, both often looking down a canal ...

's Dawn, and

Thomas Gainsborough Thomas Gainsborough (14 May 1727 (baptised) – 2 August 1788) was an English portrait and landscape painter, draughtsman, and printmaker. Along with his rival Sir Joshua Reynolds, he is considered one of the most important British artists of ...

's ''The Bridge''. He stipulated that after his wife's death, £80,000 should go to the National Gallery, to buy art, to form the Martin Colnaghi bequest.The Telegraph Newspaper dated 20 Jan 1941 under heading "The Sale Room".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colnaghi, Martin Henry 1821 births 1908 deaths Burials at Highgate Cemetery Art dealers from London People from Westminster English people of Italian descent 19th-century English businesspeople