''Portrait of Mrs Mary Graham'' or ''The Honourable Mrs Graham'' is a 1777 oil on canvas painting by the British artist

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 ...

, produced shortly after Mary's marriage to Thomas Graham, the future Lord Lynedoch on 26 December 1774. It was one of the first works to enter the collection of the

Scottish National Gallery The Scottish National Gallery (formerly the National Gallery of Scotland) is the national art gallery of Scotland. It is located on The Mound in central Edinburgh, close to Princes Street. The building was designed in a neoclassical style by W ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

after its bequest in 1859 by the heirs of Thomas Graham.

Description

One of Gainsborough's finest portraits, it has become an icon of the Scottish National Gallery. It is one of three works the artist completed of Mary Graham. A more conventional half length portrait, ''The Hon. Mrs. Thomas Graham'', also completed between 1775-77 is believed to be the painting that was initially commissioned. It is now part of the Widener collection in the

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of char ...

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, ...

History

The sitter was born Mary Cathcart on 1 March 1757. She was the daughter of

Charles Cathcart, 9th Lord Cathcart Lieutenant-General Charles Schaw Cathcart, 9th Lord Cathcart, KT (21 March 1721 – 14 August 1776) was a British soldier and diplomat. He was also chief of the Clan Cathcart. Biography The son of Charles Cathcart, 8th Lord Cathcart, and Mari ...

, who had recently served as the British ambassador at the court of

Catherine the Great , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anhal ...

. At aged 16 Mary married Thomas Graham in a double wedding with her older sister Jane, who married

John Murray, 4th Duke of Atholl John Murray, 4th Duke of Atholl, KT, PC, FRS (30 June 1755 – 29 September 1830), styled Marquess of Tullibardine from 1764 to 1774, was a Scottish peer. Life and career Murray was the eldest son of John Murray, 3rd Duke of Atholl, and his ...

It was Mary's looks that caused a stir when Gainsborough exhibited her full length portrait at the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 1777. It secured her reputation as an icon of contemporary beauty and helped her to quickly became a prominent figure in the fashionable society of Georgian London. She attracted many admirers from

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Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire (née Spencer; ; 7 June 1757 – 30 March 1806), was an English aristocrat, socialite, political organiser, author, and activist. Born into the Spencer family, married into the Cavendish family, she wa ...

who recalled ‘her goodness, her sense, her sweetness’. Sadly, Mary soon fell ill with

Tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

. Throughout her illness, she was nursed attentively by her husband. They first moved to

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

, and then as her health deteriorated further, via revolutionary

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, to the Mediterranean, in search of warmer climates. They reached the sea, but she died on 26 June 1792, near

Hyères Hyères (), Provençal Occitan: ''Ieras'' in classical norm, or ''Iero'' in Mistralian norm) is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. The old town lies from the sea clustered around t ...

, aged just 35. Thomas Graham lived another 50 years, but never remarried. He was so grief-stricken, he could not bring himself to look upon his wife's portrait. It was placed into storage and almost forgotten about, until it was exhibited 65 years later in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

in 1857.The Scotsman
/ref> Two years later it was bequeathed by his descendants to the recently opened Scottish National Gallery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Portrait of Mrs Mary Graham 1777 paintings Portraits by Thomas Gainsborough Portraits of women Paintings in the National Galleries of Scotland