Portrait of a Man in a Red Suit

Portrait of a Man in a Red Suit
Portrait of an African
Artist	Unknown
Medium	oil paint, canvas
Dimensions	61.8 cm (24.3 in) × 51.5 cm (20.3 in)
Location	Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter, Devon
Owner	Percy Moore Turner
Accession no.	14/1943
Identifiers	Art UK artwork ID: portrait-of-a-man-in-a-red-suit-95600

Portrait of a Man in a Red Suit (formerly known as Portrait of an African) is an 18th-century oil painting of a black man held by the Royal Albert Memorial Museum and donated by Percy Moore Turner in 1943. The artist and sitter are unknown. ^[1]

The earliest provenance is a sale by Christie's in 1931. ^[1] From 2006 until June 2023, it was attributed to Allan Ramsay, created c. 1757–1760 and believed to be of a young Ignatius Sancho. ^{[2] [3] [4]} Before that, it was proposed in the 1960s to have depicted Olaudah Equiano and to have been painted by Joshua Reynolds c. 1780 with the title Portrait of a Negro Man. ^{[5] [6]} The painting featured as part of the "Art Everywhere" initiative in the UK in August 2013. ^[7]

References

1. Parsons, Julien (June 2023). "Portrait of a Man in a Red Suit". RAMM research blog.
2. "Portrait of an African, probably Ignatius Sancho, once identified as Olaudah Equiano". Rammcollections.org.uk/. Royal Albert Memorial Museum . Retrieved 31 January 2020.
3. Madin, John, "Trading faces", BBC - Devon - Abolition, 26 February 2007.
4. "Portrait of an African (probably Ignatius Sancho, 1729–1780)", Art UK.
5. "Portrait of an African". Art Everywhere. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
6. John Madin (3 August 2006). "O Saviour, save me, your servant". Apollo Magazine. Archived from the original on 14 August 2013. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
7. Ian Youngs (14 August 2013). "Art is everywhere, but who is looking?". BBC. Retrieved 14 August 2013.

External links

Media related to Portrait of a Man in a Red Suit - RAMM at Wikimedia Commons