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William Vans Murray
Mather Brown1787
National Gallery of Art, Washington DC
Washington, DC, United States
Information on this painting can be found in the Gallery publication _American Paintings of the Eighteenth Century,_ pages 14-16, which is available as a free PDF <u>https://www.nga.gov/content/dam/ngaweb/research/publications/pdfs/american-paintings-18th-century.pdf</u>
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Details
- Title: William Vans Murray
- Creator: Mather Brown
- Date Created: 1787
- Physical Dimensions: overall: 76.2 x 63.7 cm (30 x 25 1/16 in.)
- Provenance: The sitter's widow, Charlotte Hughins Murray, London;[1] gift to Richard Rush [1780-1859], Philadelphia;[2] bequeathed to his son, Benjamin Rush [1811-1877], Philadelphia.[3] (Rose M. de Forest [Mrs. Augustus de Forest], New York); purchased 5 November 1921 by Thomas B. Clarke [1848-1931], New York;[4] his estate; sold as part of the Clarke collection 29 January 1936, through (M. Knoedler & Co., New York), to The A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, Pittsburgh; gift 1940 to NGA. [1] The portrait is not mentioned in Murray's will dated 9 September 1802 (Maryland State Archives; copy, NGA curatorial file). His wife was his primary heir, receiving land in Cambridge, Maryland, and all personal property not specifically mentioned in the will. [2] A handwritten note once attached to the reverse of the painting documents this gift (NGA curatorial file; the upper left corner of the note is missing): "... my late Husband William Vans/ ... qre belongs to Richard Rush Esqr of/ ... near Philadelphia in Pensylvania, U.S. of/ ... North America; having been presented to him by me,/ Charlotte Murray./ October 15th/ 1836./ George Street,/ Portman Square/ London." Richard Rush's wife Catherine Murray was William Vans Murray's cousin; on Rush see _Dictionary of American Biography_ 8: 231-234. [3] Richard Rush's will dated December 1854 (copy, NGA Curatorial file), states: "My household furniture, pictures and other things not already bequeathed, will remain in the house for the use of the daughters with me when I die. The family paintings will belong to Ben, but not be removed while the Sydenham house stands as a homestead." A note by Benjamin Rush, once attached to the reverse of the painting (NGA curatorial file), states in part: "Came to me under the Will of my Father, 1860." (The handwriting was verified by R. N. Williams, Director of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania; see his letter of 25 May 1949, NGA curatorial file.) For Rush's dates see F. W. Leach, "Rush Family of Pennsylvania," in Jason Adamson, _Rush Genealogy_ (Turlock, Ca., 1965), 11, and his obituary in _The New York Times_ 6 July 1877, 4. [4] The name of the seller and the date of purchase are according to 1928 Clarke exhibition catalogue annotated with information from files of M. Knoedler & Co., NY (copy in NGA curatorial records and in NGA library).
- Rights: CC0
- Medium: oil on canvas
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