Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Orlando Rescuing Oliver from the Lion. Verso: Three sketches of heads

Raphael Lamar West
1769-1850

Orlando Rescuing Oliver from the Lion. Verso: Three sketches of heads

9 x 12 1/16 inches (229 x 306 mm)
Pen and brown ink on paper; verso: graphite.
1970.11:10

Purchased as the gift of Mrs. Robert H. Charles.

Notes
Watermark: coat of arms with horn surmounted by crown and letters G R.
This drawing was made in preparation for the painting "Orlando and Oliver," which illustrated Act IV, Scene III, of "As You Like It." The painting was executed for John Boydell's Shakespeare Gallery project, where he planned on having thirty five artists contribute 170 paintings depicting scenes from Shakespearean plays. In the end only thirty four paintings were exhibited in 1789, half of which were painted by only four artists.
Associated names
Margary, Harry, former owner.
Charles, Robert H., Mrs., donor.
Bibliography
Kraemer, Ruth S. Drawings by Benjamin West and his son Raphael Lamar West. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1975, no. 215, repr.
Classification
Century Drawings
School
Department