Focus on The Skating Minister and analyze the History.
Raeburn painted this portrait of his friend Robert Walker in about 1795, when he was already a fashionable society portraitist in Edinburgh. When Walker died in 1808, Raeburn was one the trustees of his estate. The painting was inherited by Walker's widow Jean, and when she died in 1831, it was passed down to their daughter, Magdalen, and then to her daughter, Magdalen Scougall. Finally it passed in turn to the younger Magdalen's daughter and Walker's great-granddaughter, Beatrix Scott, who lived in Boscombe, Hampshire. In March 1914, Beatrix submitted the painting for auction hoping that it would make 1,000 guineas (£1,050), but it failed to find a buyer. In 1926, Beatrix sold the painting privately for £700 to Lucy Hume of Bournemouth, who in 1949 sent it for sale at Christie's in London. In all these various changes of ownership, there is no record of the painting coming to the attention of any art historian and it is not described in any of the early books on Raeburn's work.Christie's photographed The Skating Minister for their sale catalogue, which is believed to be the first time that the painting had been reproduced. It came to the attention of Ellis Waterhouse, the director of the National Gallery of Scotland (NGS) and was acquired for the nation for £525. The work did not become famous immediately, and it was not included in a book published by the NGS in 1972, Pictures for Scotland, which showcased the most notable works in their collection. However, in 1973, it was reproduced as one of the 'British Painters' set of commemorative stamps to mark the 150th anniversary of Raeburn's death. The painting was included in a 1997 exhibition of Raeburn's work at the National Portrait Gallery, London and was chosen to appear on posters advertising the event which were put on display across the capital. It reached an even wider audience in 1998 when The Skating Minister was included in an exhibition of British paintings, Pintura británica, at the Museo del Prado in Madrid, where images of it were widely reproduced on souvenirs.
commemorative stamps National Gallery of Scotland guinea National Portrait Gallery, London Bournemouth Christie's Edinburgh Robert Walker Museo del Prado Boscombe Ellis Waterhouse