Provenance
Painted for Thomas Grosvenor (assumed surname Egerton in 1821), 2nd earl of Wilton [1799-1882], Heaton Hall, Lancashire; by inheritance to his son, Arthur Edward Holland Grey Egerton, 3rd earl of Wilton [1833-1885], Heaton Hall; by inheritance to his wife, Elizabeth, countess of Wilton [d. 1919]; her estate; (sale, Sotheby & Co., London, 16 May 1928, no. 155, as _A Country Race Meeting_);[1] (M. Knoedler & Co., New York and London); purchased July 1928 by Ailsa Mellon Bruce [1901-1969], New York;[2] bequest 1970 to NGA.
[1] The catalogue for the Sotheby's sale listed the painting as "The Property of the late Elizabeth Countess of Wilton, Sold by Order of the Dowager, Viscountess Deerhurst."
[2] Guy Paget, in "Ben Marshall and John Ferneley," _Apollo_ 40 (August 1944): 36, fig. XVI, credits the reproduction of the painting to Hamilton Bruce of Baltimore. Bruce has not yet been further identified, but he was possibly a relation of Mrs. Bruce's husband, David K.E. Bruce, whose family lived in Baltimore.
Accession Number
1970.17.110
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 92 x 152.6 cm (36 1/4 x 60 1/16 in.) | framed: 110.5 x 170.8 x 8.2 cm (43 1/2 x 67 1/4 x 3 1/4 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection
Tags
Painting Neoclassical & Romantic (1751–1850) Oil Painting Canvas British
Background & Context
Background Story
John Ferneley (1782-1860) was a British painter known as one of the most important sporting painters of the early 19th century, whose precisely observed paintings of horses and hunting scenes make him one of the most accomplished painters of the British sporting tradition. Heaton Park Races from 1829 depicts a horse racing scene in the precisely observed, elegant manner that distinguishes Ferneley's best sporting paintings from the more dramatic work of his contemporaries. The 1829 date places this in Ferneley's most productive period, when he was producing the precisely observed sporting paintings that are his most accomplished works, and the Heaton Park subject shows his ability to capture the atmosphere of a race meeting with precision and elegance.
Cultural Impact
Heaton Park Races is important in the history of British sporting painting because it demonstrates the precisely observed, elegant manner that Ferneley brought to horse racing subjects as one of the most important sporting painters of the early 19th century. Ferneley's precisely observed sporting paintings—combining accurate depiction of horses with the elegant atmosphere of the race meeting—represent one of the most accomplished traditions in British sporting painting, and the 1829 painting shows this tradition at its most elegant.
Why It Matters
Heaton Park Races is Ferneley's elegant sporting painting: a horse racing scene rendered in the precisely observed manner of one of the most important sporting painters of the early 19th century. The 1829 painting shows the accomplished British sporting tradition—accurate depiction of horses combined with the elegant atmosphere of the race meeting.
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