Image scanned and color-corrected by Pat Cagney.

Portrait of Sir Thomas Livingstone Mitchell

Artist Sir William Beechey (British, 1753 - 1839)

CultureEnglish

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)

InscribedNot dated, not signed

Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.

Object number71.529

On View

Chrysler Museum of Art, Gallery 214

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 ProvenanceThe Ehrich Galleries, New York, 1934; sale American Art Association, Anderson Galleries, New York, April 18-19, 1934; Julius Weitzner, New York, 1954; Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.; Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. to the Chrysler Museum at Norfolk, 1971. Exhibition HistoryKansas City Institute of Art, Kansas City, Missouri, 1929. "Paintings from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.," Portland Art Museum, Oregon; Seattle Art Museum; California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Minneapolis Art Institute; St. Louis City Art Museum; William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art, Kansas City; Detroit Institute of Arts; and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, March 2, 1956 - April 14, 1957. (Exhib. cat. no. 23). "Treasures from the Chrysler Museum at Norfolk and Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.," Tennessee Fine Arts Center at Cheekwood, Nashville, Tennessee, June 12 - Sept. 5, 1977. (Exhib. cat. no. 26). Published ReferencesAmerican Art Association, Anderson Galleries, Inc. _Important Paintings from the Ehrich Galleries_. New York: Anderson Galleries/American Art Association. 1934: No. 152. Bertina S. Manning. _Paintings from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.: An Exhibition Organized by the Portland Art Museum, Oregon_ . Portland: Portland Art Association. 1956. No. 23. Eric M. Zafran. "English Portraits on View," _Chrysler Museum at Norfolk Bulletin_. Vol. 5, no. 9. Norfolk, VA: The Chrysler Museum. 09/1976: cover and inside article. Eric M. Zafran and Mario Amaya. _Treasures from the Chrysler Museum at Norfolk and Walter P. Chrysler, Jr._. Tennessee Fine Arts Center at Cheekwood, Nashville. 1977. No. 26. Chrysler Museum. _Selections from the Permanent Collection: The Chrysler Museum_. Norfolk, VA: Chrysler Museum of Art. 1982: p. 53. Jefferson C. Harrison. _The Chrysler Museum Handbook of the European and American Collections: Selected Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings_. The Chrysler Museum. 1991. Page 96, #74.