THE HUNTINGTON LIBRARY ACQUIRES WILKIE PAINTING

THE HUNTINGTON LIBRARY, ART COLLECTIONS, AND BOTANICAL GARDENS, SAN MARINO, CALIFORNIA, ANNOUNCED TODAY THE ACQUISITION OF SANCHO PANZA IN THE DAYS OF HIS YOUTH, BY BRITISH PAINTER DAVID WILKIE. THE PAINTING, WHICH PREVIOUSLY WAS HELD IN THE COLLECTION OF CHRISTOPHER FORBES, WAS PURCHASED IN SEPTEMBER AND HAS JUST GONE ON DISPLAY IN THE HUNTINGTON ART GALLERY AMONG WORKS BY OTHER BRITISH ARTISTS OF THE 19th CENTURY. ONE OF THE GREATEST PRACTITIONERS OF GENRE PAINTING IN BRITAIN, AND, ALONG WITH JMW TURNER AND JOHN CONSTABLE, ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL BRITISH ARTISTS OF THE 19th CENTURY, THE SCOTTISH-BORN WILKIE MADE HIS CAREER IN LONDON, WHERE HIS LIST OF PATRONS INCLUDED THE TOP MEMBERS OF BRITISH SOCIETY, SUCH AS THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON, AND JOHN JULIUS ANGERSTEIN, WHOSE COLLECTION FOUNDED THE NATIONAL GALLERY, LONDON. A FAVORITE OF KING GEORGE IV, WILKIE PAINTED A LARGE NUMBER OF WORKS THAT REMAIN IN BRITAIN'S ROYAL COLLECTION TODAY. WHILE THE HUNTINGTON OWNS NOTABLE PAINTINGS BY TURNER AND CONSTABLE, UNTIL NOW IT HAS LACKED A MAJOR PICTURE BY WILKIE. SANCHO PANZA IN THE DAYS OF HIS YOUTH IS ONE OF WILKIE'S LITERARY SUBJECTS, A SCENE INSPIRED BY THE NOVEL DON QUIXOTE BY MIGUEL DE CERVANTES. IT REVEALS THE LUSH, PAINTERLY STYLE HE DEVELOPED ON AN EXTENDED VISIT TO SPAIN FROM 1827 TO 1828 AND WAS SHOWN AT THE ROYAL ACADEMY EXHIBITION OF 1835 ALONG WITH OTHER SPANISH SUBJECTS. THE PAINTING HAS BEEN INSTALLED ON THE SECOND FLOOR WEST WING OF THE HUNTINGTON ART GALLERY.
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