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Studies of arms and drapery

Maker

(artist)
1713-1784

Formerly attributed to
(artist)
1701-1779

Formerly attributed to
(artist)
1700-1799

Title

Date of Production

c. 1740-46

Medium

black and white chalk on dark blue laid paper (under magnification, it is clear that the relatively dark paper colour is a result of an unusually high proportion of blue fibres, dyed with indigotin, mixed with just white fibres)

Dimensions

Height: 28.6 cm
Width: 42.8 cm

Accession Number

D.1952.RW.1401

Mode of Acquisition

Robert Clermont Witt, bequest, 1952

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords

Label Text

From the 2024-25 display Drawn to Blue:
Allan Ramsay was a Scotsman who moved to London and became a successful portrait painter. He produced over 600 portraits, necessitating a repertoire of poses and costumes to draw upon. The studies seen here were used in a number of female portraits.

Ramsay used his figure studies on blue paper to study how white highlights accentuate the play of light on skin and fine draperies. The deep hue of this sheet is due to an unusually high proportion of blue fibres in the paper.

Notes

The two arms at upper left are studies for a portrait of Mrs Jane Madan, though the basket in the drawing was replaced by a feather in the painting. The painting was signed and dated A. Ramsay / 1746 (erroneously listed in Smart's 1999 catalogue raisonné of paintings as dated 1745). The painting sold at Sotheby's, New York in January 2020. The right-hand study bears a resemblance to the portrait of Mrs Elizabeth Symonds in the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, signed and dated A. Ramsay 1740.

Provenance

Colnaghi (London); purchased there by Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952), L.2228b, n.d. (£3.10); Witt Bequest 1952

Exhibition History

Drawn to Blue: Artists' use of Blue Paper, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 04/10/2024-26/01/2025

unnumbered typescript - title was possibly 'A Selection of Drawings from The Witt/Courtauld Collections [as exhibited in 1964 at University of Sussex, Falmer]', Nottingham University, 1966

Literature

Smart, Alastair, Allan Ramsay: a complete catalogue of his paintings, John Ingamells (ed.), New Haven and London, 1999
under no. 343
fig. 626
no. 343 is the portrait of Mrs Jane Madan, signed and dated 1745, in a private collection

Blunt, Anthony, Hand-list of the drawings in the Witt Collection, London, 1956
p. 38

Inscriptions

Watermark: Verso, centre: Strasburg bend above the letters "L V G" (no exact match in Churchill or Heawood but similar mark Heawood 106 is dated 1776. Watermark with variations appears to have been used over 200 years).

Inscription: none.

Collector's mark: Verso: lower right corner, stamped in black: Sir Robert Witt (L.2228b).

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