DALLAS MUSEUM OF ART REDISCOVERS ROMNEY PAINTING

THE DALLAS MUSEUM OF ART (DNA) RECENTLY ANNOUNCED THE RE-ATTRIBUTION OF THE PAINTING, 'YOUNG MAN WITH A FLUTE, TO THE ARTIST GEORGE ROMNEY. THE WORK OF ART HAS BEEN IN THE MUSEUM'S COLLECTIONS FOR NEARLY 25 YEARS AND ENTERED IT IN 1987 AS PART OF A BEQUEST OF MRS SHERIDAN THOMPSON. AT THE TIME OF THE PAINTING'S ACQUISITION, THE ARTIST WAS UNKNOWN BUT THE PAINTING WAS THOUGHT TO BE BY THE AMERICAN COLONIAL ERA PORTRAIT PAINTER RALPH EARL. THEN IN 2000 ON A VISIT TO THE MUSEUM, BRITISH ART DEALER PHILLIP MOULD SUGGESTED THAT THE PAINTING MIGHT BE THE OEUVRE OF ENGLISH PAINTER GEORGE ROMNEY BUT WAS NOT ABLE TO PROVIDE FURTHER EVIDENCE TO THE MUSEUM. TEN YEARS LATER, AND SOON AFTER HIS ARRIVAL AT THE DNA FROM THE LOUVRE, OLIVIER MESLAY, SENIOR CURATOR OF EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN ART AND THE BARBARA THOMAS LEMMON CURATOR OF EUROPEAN ART, VIEWED THE PAINTING IN THE ART STORAGE AREA, LEARNED OF MOULD'S EARLIER SUSPICION, AND WANTED TO KNOW MORE. HE SHOWED THE WORK AF ART TO ANOTHER VISITING EXPERT, PIERS DAVIES, SPECIALIST OF OLD MASTER PAINTINGS WITH CHRISTIE'S DAVIES, LIKE MOULD A DECADE EARLIER, IMMEDIATELY NOTED THE LIKENESS OF YOUNG MAN WITH A FLUTE TO THE STYLE OF SIMILAR PORTRAITS BY ROMNEY FROM AROUND THE SAME TIME PERIOD, 1760-1770. MESLAY THEN CONTACTED THE INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED ROMNEY EXPERT ALEX KIDSON, CONSULTANT CURATOR WITH THE NATIONAL MUSEUM LIVERPOOL. KIDSON ANALYZED THE PAINTING AND DETERMINED THE PAINTER TO BE GEORGE ROMNEY, A KEY FIGURE IN 18th CENTURY BRITISH ART. ROMNEY WAS A CONTEMPORARY OF SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS AND THOMAS GAINSBOROUGH AND AFTER REYNOLD'S DEATH IN 1792 ROMNEY BECAME THE MOST FAMOUS PORTRAIT PAINTER IN ENGLAND. YOUNG MAN WITH A FLUTE IS ON VIEW IN THE DNA's EUROPEAN ART GALLERIES ON LEVEL 2, ALONGSIDE A PAINTING BY SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS IN THE MUSEUM'S COLLECTIONS, PORTRAIT OF MISS MARY PELHAM.