''Portrait of Elizabeth Kerr'' is a c. 1769 oil on canvas portrait painting by the English artist

Joshua Reynolds Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter, specialising in portraits. John Russell said he was one of the major European painters of the 18th century. He promoted the "Grand Style" in painting which depend ...

. It is now in the Museo Soumaya in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

. It shows Elizabeth Kerr (née Fortescue), daughter of

Chichester Fortescue (1718–1757) Chichester Fortescue (5 June 1718 – 16 July 1757) was an Irish Member of Parliament. He represented Trim in the Irish House of Commons between 1747 and 1757. In 1743 he married The Hon. Elizabeth Colley Wesley, daughter of Richard Wesle ...

, High Sheriff of County Down in what is now Northern Ireland. Reynolds also painted her at least twice between her marriage in 1762 and her husband's succession to the marquisate in 1775 – these half-lengths are on show at Blickling Hall and Fyvie Castle. John Spilsbury engraved the c.1769 work in 1770, though he altered a few details of the dress. The c. 1769 work was inherited by William and Elizabeth's seventh child and second son Lord Charles Beauchamp Kerr (1775–1816), who passed it to his own son Captain Beauchamp Kerr. Sometime before 1899 it came into the hands of one E. Beckett, who sold it to

Agnew's Thomas Agnew & Sons is a fine arts dealer in London that began life as part of in a print and publishing partnership with Vittore Zanetti in Manchester in 1817 which ended in 1835, when Agnew took full control of the company. The firm opened its Lo ...

that year. Agnew's sold it on four days later to

George J. Gould George Jay Gould I (February 6, 1864 – May 16, 1923) was a financier and the son of Jay Gould. He was himself a railroad executive, leading the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad (DRGW), Western Pacific Railroad (WP), and the Manhatta ...

, who bequeathed it to a private collector in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

That private collector then sold it at auction at Sotheby's New York on 9 June 2011, where it was bought by its present owner for $62,500 (then equivalent to £38,514).

Description

The subject is shown seated three-quarter-length, her hands resting in her lap and her right forearm resting on a table. She wears a dress influenced by the ancient Greek

chiton Chitons () are marine molluscs of varying size in the class Polyplacophora (), formerly known as Amphineura. About 940 extant and 430 fossil species are recognized. They are also sometimes known as gumboots or sea cradles or coat-of-mail s ...

and an overmantle of blueish silk, edged with ermine to reflect her noble status. Influenced by ancient Roman busts, her high and heavily-ornamented hairstyle was very fashionable for the time, with a single braid running over her right breast. Reynolds contrasts her white skin with a darker background Some art historians argue that the work complies with the "four principles of painting" outlined by Reynolds in hi
''Discourses on Art''
namely invention, colour, drapery and expression. Ayala Canseco, Eva María (febrero de 2013)
«Sir Joshua Reynolds y la retratística inglesa»
Revista mensual Museo Soumaya: 1-5.

References

{{Joshua Reynolds 1769 paintings Kerr, Elizabeth Paintings in the collection of the Museo Soumaya