Sargent’s The Earl of Dalhousie evokes a brilliant transitional moment in British portraiture, being late Victorian in date but strikingly modern in appearance. The Committee agreed that it is a fascinating picture on many levels and that this was one of Sargent’s finest male portraits. The Minister’s decision follows the advice of the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest (RCEWA). I sincerely hope that a UK buyer can be found to save the work for the nation. It would be a huge loss if this piece were to leave the country. There is still so much we can learn from this outstanding portrait of the 14th Earl of Dalhousie, painted in the UK at the transition between the 19th and 20th centuries. He continues to inspire artists, academics, and audiences to think more deeply about ourselves, our history, and the human condition – with Julian Barnes’s The Man in the Red Coat just one example of the creative impulses he continues to spark. John Singer Sargent was, as the National Portrait Gallery’s exhibition of 2015 rightly noted, ‘the greatest portrait painter of his generation’. As a result, The Earl of Dalhousie is considered exceptional for its portrayal of Arthur Ramsay’s character and provides a fascinating look at aristocratic masculinity, uncertainty, and imperial doubt at the time.Īrts Minister Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay said: Most widely known for his famous Portrait of Madame X, the international artist – who spent most of his life in Europe and whose resting place is in the UK – had an important role in the wider art, history and culture of the period and this piece set the stage for Sargent’s fame on both sides of the Atlantic.ĭating back to 1899, the portrait coincides with the founding of psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud. The Earl of Dalhousie is hugely significant to the study of John Singer Sargent’s impressive legacy.
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Worth over £7.5 million, an outstanding three-quarter length portrait of Arthur Ramsay, the 14th Earl of Dalhousie is at risk of leaving the country unless a UK buyer can be found to save the work for the nation. Exceptional painting is considered a contender for Sargent’s finest portrait of a male sitter.The export bar is to allow time for a UK gallery or institution to acquire the work.