Portrait of a Young Man in Brown, possibly Javier Goya

Francisco Goya y Lucientes (Spanish, 1746–1828)

about 1810-1815

Medium/TechniqueOil on canvas

Dimensions81.3 x 58.1 cm (32 x 22 7/8 in.)

Credit LineBequest of John T. Spaulding

Accession number48.558

On View

Not on view

ClassificationsPaintings

Collections

Europe

ProvenanceJavier Goya y Bayeu (b. 1784–d. 1854) or Mariano Goya y Goicoechea (b. 1806–d. 1874), Madrid; sold by Javier or Mariano Goya to José, Marqués de Salamanca (b. 1811 - d. 1883), Madrid [see note 1]; June 3-6, 1867, Salamanca sale, Paris, lot 172, withdrawn; January 26, 1875, Salamanca sale, Hotel Drouot, Paris, lot 11 [see note 2]. By 1885, M. Bamberger, Paris [see note 3]; March 17, 1923, Bamberger sale, Hotel Drouot, Paris, lot 49, to Trotti et Cie., Paris. 1924, Yves Perdoux, Paris [see note 4]. 1926, Kunsthandel J. Goudstikker, Amsterdam (stock no. 1667) [see note 5]. 1927, Howard Young Galleries, New York (stock no. 2573); 1927, sold by Howard Young Galleries to John Taylor Spaulding (b. 1870 - d. 1948), Boston; 1948, bequest of John Taylor Spaulding to the MFA. (Accession Date: June 3, 1948)

NOTES:
[1] A wax seal on the reverse of the painting stretcher bears the Salamanca coat-of-arms. In the two Salamanca sale catalogues (1867 and 1875) this painting's provenance is given as the "Galerie de Goya" (i.e., the collection of either Javier or Mariano Goya, the artist's son and grandson). Known at the time as a portrait of Manuel Garcia, the celebrated tenor, this was one of eight paintings attributed to Goya sold by the artist's family to the marqués; see F. Hernandez Girbal, José de Salamanca, Marqués de Salamanca (Madrid, 1963), pp. 547 and 552, and Pierre Gassier and Juliet Wilson, The Life and Complete Work of Francisco Goya (New York, 1971), p. 167, cat. no. 837. Pedro Navascues Palacio, Un palacio romántico (Madrid, 1983), p. 72, specifies the seller as Javier.

[2] For more on the Salamanca sales, see Hernandez Girbal (as above, n. 1), pp. 551-554.

[3] He lent the painting to the Deuxième Exposition de Portraits du Siècle (École des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1885), cat. no. 108.

[4] According to a written authentication provided by August L. Mayer (May 4, 1926, in curatorial file); "Mr. Perdoux" is also written on the reverse of the painting stretcher. In his book Francisco de Goya (London, 1924), Mayer erroneously states that the portrait is signed "D. Fr. Goya 1815" but that he has not seen the signature. In his authentication of 1926, Mayer cites the source of this information as the Salamanca sale catalogue, but there is no indication in either catalogue of a signature or date on the painting. This error has been repeated in subsequent literature.

[5] According to a label on the reverse of the painting stretcher. It was also included in the exhibition "Collection Goudstikker, Amsterdam. 10e exposition" (Pulchri Studio, The Hague, March 13 - April 4, 1926), cat. no. 54, ill.