John Smart portrait miniatures showcased at Nelson-Atkins

22 décembre 2024

John Smart portrait miniatures showcased at Nelson-Atkins

John Smart (English, 1741–1811), Self-Portrait, 1793, pencil on laid paper, Image (oval): 7 13/16 × 6 7/8 inches (19.84 × 17.46 cm). Mat: 11 7/8 × 13 inches (30.16 × 33.02 cm). Sight: 6 3/4 × 6 1/8 inches (17.15 × 15.56 cm). Framed: 15 7/8 × 14 3/4 × 1 3/4 inches (40.32 × 37.47 × 4.45 cm), Purchase: acquired through the generosity of The Martha Jane Phillips Starr Field of Interest Fund at the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation, exchange of the gifts of Laura Nelson Kirkwood Residuary Trust, and the Beckett Art Purchases Fund in memory of Samuel and Ethel Beckett, 2024.10.

KANSAS CITY, MO.- A stunning array of jewel-like portrait miniatures by English artist John Smart (1741—1811), including signed and dated examples from nearly every year of his career, are being featured at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City in the exhibition John Smart: Virtuoso in Miniature from Dec. 21, 2024, to Jan. 4, 2026. Included is a rare self-portrait of the artist, one of only nine known examples. It was made in 1793 while the artist was living in India. Timed to coincide with the final launch in spring 2025 of the digital Starr Catalogue of Portrait Miniatures—a groundbreaking resource dedicated to John Smart that reveals fresh discoveries across his career— this exhibition presents his work chronologically, showcasing new additions to the collection for the first time in nearly six decades. Presented to the Nelson-Atkins by Mr. and Mrs. John W. Starr in two major gifts in 1958 and 1965, and numerous additional gifts throughout the years, the Starr Collection of Portrait Miniatures illustrates the history of European miniatures across more than 250 objects.

“Visitors will be able to see Smart’s progression of style and technique and also explore themes of self-presentation,” said Julián Zugazagoitia, Director & CEO of the Nelson-Atkins. “The Starr family’s dedication to collecting the work of John Smart reflects their commitment to preserving the legacy of one of the most skilled portrait miniaturists of the eighteenth-century.”

Martha Jane Phillips and John W. “Twink” Starr assembled one of the most comprehensive collections of works by English artist John Smart, including signed and dated examples from nearly every year of the artist’s career. Despite their persistent efforts, acquiring a self-portrait remained elusive. In 1954, they learned of the potential availability of a self-portrait in private hands, but they were too late; it was sold to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Relentless in their pursuit, they appealed to successive Boston museum directors to sell or trade for the work, but they were unsuccessful. They ultimately acquired an oil painting of Smart by his near-contemporary Richard Brompton (English, 1734–1783), which they later donated to the Philbrook Museum in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Starrs’ quest for a self-portrait, initiated on their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, remained unrealized in their lifetime due to the rarity of such works.

“None of John Smart’s contemporaries painted as many self-portraits, which suggests Smart’s conscious understanding of what the vehicle of portraiture played in self-promotion,” said Aimee Marcereau DeGalan, Louis L. and Adelaide C. Ward Senior Curator, European Arts, and co-curator of this exhibition, along with Starr researchers Blythe Sobol and Maggie Keenan. “Smart was incredibly ambitious and self-confident, and this is the largest known self-portrait that he made. We are unbelievably thrilled to have been able to make this strategic acquisition.”

This self-portrait was acquired by a private London collector, who kept it until fall 2023, when it was consigned to a London dealer. With support from Starr family descendants, the Nelson-Atkins purchased this remarkable work in the year marking John and Martha Jane Starr’s 95th wedding anniversary—a fitting tribute to their enduring legacy.

John Smart: Virtuoso in Miniature facilitates a greater understanding of the artist’s stylistic evolution, working methods, and impact across two continents, while exploring the impact of British colonialism and the changing fashions of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

John Smart (English, 1741–1811), Portrait of a Woman, 1772, watercolor on ivory, sight: 1 5/8 x 1 3/8 in. (4.13 x 3.49 cm), framed: 2 x 1 1/2 in. (5.08 x 3.81 cm, Gift of the Starr Foundation, Inc., F65-41/13.

John Smart (English, 1741–1811), Portrait of Muhammad Ali Khan Wallajah, Nawab of Arcot and the Carnatic, 1788, watercolor on ivory, sight: 2 x 1 5/8 in. (5.08 x 4.13 cm), framed: 2 1/8 x 1 3/4 in. (5.4 x 4.45 cm), Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John W. Starr, F71-32.

John Smart, English (1741/1742–1811). Portrait of Andrew Majendie, ca. 1780. Watercolor on ivory with brass. 1 3/8 x 1 3/8 inches. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John W. Starr and the Starr Foundation, Inc., F58-60/129.

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Tags: 18th century Art, John Smart