Image scanned and color-corrected by Pat Cagney.

Portrait of Sir Thomas Livingstone Mitchell

Artist Sir William Beechey (British, 1753 - 1839)

Dateca. 1838

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsOverall: 84 x 64 1/2 in. (213.4 x 163.8 cm)
Overall, Frame: 96 1/4 x 77 in. (244.5 x 195.6 cm)

ClassificationsEuropean art

Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.

Object number71.529

Terms

Portrait
Man
Explorer
Tan
Red
White
Green
Dark blue
Gray
Romantic

On View

On view

DescriptionThis is an oil on canvas painting. Sir Thomas Livingstone Mitchell, an explorer and surveyor general of the British Colony of New South Wales in 1928, sits in a luxurious chair in his study holding a letter. A magnificient landscape is shown in the background.

Label TextSir William Beechey English, 1753–1839 Portrait of Sir Thomas Livingstone Mitchell, ca. 1838 Oil on canvas This formally dressed British nobleman sits in his grand study, yet the colonnade curiously opens onto the mountainous wilds of Australia. By including the distant mountains, the portrait painter William Beechey highlights the sitter’s crowning achievement. As surveyor-general of the British colony of New South Wales, Sir Thomas Livingstone Mitchell explored the Australian interior and mapped the Darling and Glenelg Rivers. Beechey further commends Mitchell by placing the title page of his book on the writing table. Called Survey of Glenelg, it features Mitchell’s map of New South Wales. Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.529