Colonel Isaac Barré
Gilbert Stuart
American Art
Ten years into his stay in London, having trained under the American-born master Benjamin West and established himself as a rising portraitist, Gilbert Stuart painted this striking likeness of the war hero and fiery Member of Parliament Colonel Isaac Barré. A leader of the opposition and a vehement advocate for the American colonies, Barré was known for his 1765 “Sons of Liberty” speech opposing the Stamp Act (which imposed taxes on the colonies without their consent). In this forceful portrait inspired by the works of the seventeenth-century Flemish painter Anthony van Dyck, Stuart employed heavy shadow to mask the deformed right side of Barré’s face, where the sitter had taken a bullet at the Battle of Quebec (1759) while serving under Major-General James Wolfe during the French and Indian War.
MEDIUM
Oil on canvas
DATES
1785
DIMENSIONS
35 13/16 x 27 3/4 in. (91 x 70.5 cm) (show scale)
SIGNATURE
Unsigned
COLLECTIONS
American Art
ACCESSION NUMBER
16.25
CREDIT LINE
Carll H. de Silver Fund
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
CAPTION
Gilbert Stuart (American, 1755–1828). Colonel Isaac Barré, 1785. Oil on canvas, 35 13/16 x 27 3/4 in. (91 x 70.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Carll H. de Silver Fund, 16.25 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 16.25_SL3.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, 16.25_SL3.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
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