John Downman A.R.A. Ruabon, N. Wales 1750 - 1824 Wrexham

Born in Ruabon, North Wales, Downman studied under Benjamin West in London and entered the Royal Academy, in 1769.  He visited Rome with Joseph Wright of Derby in 1773-5, apparently intent on becoming a history painter.  But by 1777 he was back in England painting portraits in Cambridge and, by 1780, had evolved his most characteristic portrait manner, the half-length oval in black chalk and stump with light washes of color.  He exhibited portraits and a number of fancy subjects at the Royal Academy, London 1769-1819, and was elected associate Royal Academician in 1795.  His oil portraits recall in style and handling the paintings of Francis Wheatley.  Downman later moved to the west country between 1806-8 and is recorded painting in Chester in 1818-19.  He died at Wrexham on December 24, 1824.

The young boy depicted in the present work holding his kite is Sir Henry Frederick Bouverie (1783-1852) together with one of his five sisters.  The third son of the Hon. Edward Bouverie, he went to Eton College in May 1793 and later joined the Coldstream Guards.  He received many orders of distinction for his service in the army and the pinnacle of his career was when he was appointed governor and commander- in-chief of the island of Malta in 1836.

Edith Kane Baker, who owned the painting until 1977 was the wife of the prominent banker George F. Baker.  Baker and J. P. Morgan were close friends and frequent allies, and together were America’s most influential and succesful bankers in the late 19th and early 20th Century years. Mr. Baker was the long-time Chairman and principal stockholder of The First National Bank of New York, which later became First National City Bank, later shortened to Citibank, as it is best known today. Mr. and Mrs Baker were well known for their philanthropy, including building the entire original campus of the Harvard Business School in Boston during the 1920s. They had a significant collection of art and furniture, much of which was sold in these rooms in 1977.  Their extravagant residential complex on East 93rd Street was designed in the 1920s, in 19th century English Regency style, by the architects Delano and Aldrich; it now serves as the center for Classical American Homes Preservation Trust, and the ballroom wing and French style Courtyard is now owned by the Russian Orthodox Church.