B.

To Russia with love

Behind the scenes

The Gallery owns an assortment of British eighteenth-century prints copied from paintings at Houghton Hall in England.

Houghton's magnificent painting collection was created by Sir Robert Walpole, Britain's first Prime Minister, and was sold by his dissolute and possibly insane grandson, George, to Catherine the Great of Russia, to pay off his enormous debts. The sale, which raised some £35,000 was as controversial as similar sales to overseas buyers are today. The Houghton purchase still forms the core of the old masters collection in the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg.

The prints were published as a portfolio by John Boydell in 1778. You can see all the works in this series that we own here.

But here is an example pairing. First our engraving:

Valentine Green Sir Thomas Wharton (In The Marble Parlour At Houghton) Mezzotint engraving. Collection of Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, Sir Joseph Kinsey bequest

Valentine Green Sir Thomas Wharton (In The Marble Parlour At Houghton) Mezzotint engraving. Collection of Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, Sir Joseph Kinsey bequest

And the original oil painting:

Anthony Van Dyck Portrait of Sir Thomas Wharton. Oil on canvas. State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg

Anthony Van Dyck Portrait of Sir Thomas Wharton. Oil on canvas. State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg