William Artaud

Commissioned by Thomas Macklin (1752/53-1800), by 1791;

Anonymous sale, London, Langdon's, 18 February 1807, lot 111 (for £7.10s);

Probably, Henry Seymour Berry (1877-1928), 1st Baron Buckland, Bwlch, Wales;

With Theron J. Blakeslee, New York, by 1911;

From whom acquired by Robert Vose Galleries, Boston, 1911;

From whom acquired by the Friends of American Art, 1915 (as Benjamin West);

By whom given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1915.488 (as Benjamin West).

Art Institute of Chicago, Friends of American Art, Fifth Year Book, Chicago 1914-15, p. 167, reproduced (as Benjamin West);

Art Institute of Chicago, Catalogue of Paintings, Drawings, Sculpture, and Architecture, Chicago 1917, p. 153, cat. no. 431 (as West);

Art Institute of Chicago, Catalogue of Paintings, Drawings, Sculpture, and Architecture, Chicago 1922, p. 49, no. 431 (as West);

Art Institute of Chicago, Catalogue of Paintings, Drawings, Sculpture, and Architecture, Chicago 1923, p. 49, no. 431 (as West);

Art Institute of Chicago, A Guide to the paintings in the permanent collection, Chicago 1925, p. 157, no. 431 (as West);

Art Institute of Chicago, A Guide to the paintings in the permanent collection, Chicago 1932, p. 176 (as West);

H. Cahill and A.H. Barr, Jr., eds., Art in America: A Complete Survey, New York 1934, p. 21, reproduced (as West);

A.C. Sewter, "The Life, Work, and Letters of William Artaud, 1763-1823," M.A. thesis, University of Manchester 1951, p. 14, cat. no. 6 (as Artaud);

E. Sparks, "Three Narrative Paintings by Benjamin West in the Collection," Art Institute of Chicago Bulletin 68, no. 4 (1974), pp. 7-8, reproduced (as West);

G. Groom, "Art, Illustration, and Enterprise in Late Eighteenth-Century English Art: A Painting by Philippe Jacques de Loutherbourg," Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies 18 (1992), pp. 130, 133-35, reproduced fig. 7 (as Artaud);

K. Sloan, "William Artaud: History Painter and 'Violent Democrat'," Burlington Magazine 137 (1995), pp. 78-79, reproduced fig. 17 (as Artaud);

M. Warner, French and British Paintings from 1600 to 1800 in the Art Institute of Chicago, a catalogue of the collection, Chicago 1996, pp. 182-185, reproduced (as Artaud).

London, Pall Mall, Gallery of Poets, Fourth Exhibition of Pictures, painted for Mr. Macklin by the artists of Britain, illustrative of the British Poets, and the Bible, 1791, no. 50;

London, Pall Mall, Gallery of Poets, Fifth Exhibition of Pictures, painted for Mr. Macklin by the artists of Britain, illustrative of the British Poets, and the Bible, 1792, no. 50;

London, Pall Mall, Gallery of Poets, Sixth Exhibition of Pictures, painted for Mr. Macklin by the artists of Britain, illustrative of the British Poets, and the Bible, 1793, no. 50;

Cleveland, Cleveland School of Art, A Group of Paintings by Early American Artists from the Galleries of R. C. and N. M. Vose, 17 January - 1 February 1915 (as Benjamin West);

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Museum of Art, Benjamin West, 1738-1820, 1938, no. 50 (as Benjamin West, "He That Is Without Sin Among You");

Urbana, University of Illinois, November 1941 - May 1956, on loan (as Benjamin West).

ENGRAVED

P. Thomson after Artaud, The Woman Accused of Adultery, published 20 October 1794 in Macklin's Bible.

This painting was commissioned by Thomas Macklin, a London book and print seller, for an exhibition and accompanying publication of works of Biblical scenes created by British artists that he held annually in the 1790s. Artaud produced five works for the Macklin Bible: Moses Meeting His Wife and Sons, Hagar and Ishmael, The Widow's Mite, Belshazzar's Feast, and the present lot.  

Although recorded in Macklin's publications as the work of Artaud, the painting was mistakenly attributed to Benjamin West for several decades in the 20th century after being acquired by the Friends of American Art for the Art Institute of Chicago. Artaud attended the Royal Academy Schools, where he won a gold medal in 1786. He traveled through Italy to study classical art beginning in 1796, returning to London in 1799 where he made a career as a portraitist.