Robert Cunninghame Graham of Gartmore, 1735 - 1797. Poet and politician
About this artwork
Robert Cunninghame Graham attained celebrity as a poet, supporter of human rights, and benefactor of Glasgow University. Like many wealthy eighteenth-century Scots, however, his prosperity was founded on involvement with the Caribbean slave economy. He was a planter, receiver-general of taxes and slaveholder in Jamaica. He exploited his position of power to have sexual relations with many enslaved women and continued to buy and sell slaves even after his return to Scotland in 1770-71. Raeburn’s boldly painted portrait gives no hint that Cunningham Graham’s wealth depended on the labour of enslaved Africans.
Updated before 2020
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artist:Sir Henry Raeburn (1756 - 1823) Scottish
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title:Robert Cunninghame Graham of Gartmore, 1735 - 1797. Poet and politician
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date created:About 1794
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materials:Oil on canvas
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measurements:128.50 x 103.50 cm
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object type:
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credit line:Bequeathed by Mrs E.M.F. Landale 1984
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accession number:PG 2620
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gallery:
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subject:
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artwork photographed by:Antonia Reeve
Sir Henry Raeburn
Sir Henry Raeburn
Originally apprenticed to a goldsmith, Henry Raeburn showed enormous artistic talent as a young man. In 1784 he moved to London where he met the important portrait painter Joshua Reynolds. He spent some time in Italy but returned to Edinburgh in 1787 where he began painting portraits of the rich,...