Self-Portrait
George Manson (Edinburgh 1850 - Lympstone 1876)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1869 (monogrammed and dated) - circa 1869
Materials
Oil on panel, gilt
Measurements
114 x 98 mm (4 1/2 x 3 7/8 in)
Place of origin
Scotland
Order this imageCollection
Polesden Lacey, Surrey
NT 1246559
Caption
Manson modestly turns away from us in this self-portrait, but he still tells us a great deal about himself. Aged about nineteen and just emerging as a professional artist in Scotland, his smooth skin gives away his youth while his intense gaze alludes to the powers of observation that have allowed him so precisely to trace the contours of his profile, and the minute gradations of tone through his hair. The air of pensive melancholy in this picture is typical of Manson's work and was greatly admired in the period after his early death from consumption.
Summary
Oil painting on panel, Self-portrait by George Manson (Edinburgh 1850 - Lympstone 1876), signed and dated with monogram, 1869. A portrait head in 'profil perdu' to right, short light brown hair, white shirt. Greenish background.
Provenance
Bequeathed in 1942 by Margaret Helen Greville DBE (1863-1942) to the National Trust, along with the Polesden Lacey Estate in memory of her father William McEwan MP (1827-1913). [The probate inventory of January 1943 shows this item in the record for Polesden Lacey pictures, drawings etc., corridor to bedrooms, page 136].
Credit line
Polesden Lacey, The McEwan Collection (National Trust)
Marks and inscriptions
GM 1869 (signed with monogram and dated)
Makers and roles
George Manson (Edinburgh 1850 - Lympstone 1876), artist
