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\n Tam o’ Shanter ‘masterpiece’ to go to auction in Glasgow<\/a>\n<\/p>\n \n Farmhouse where Robert Burns lived now available to rent<\/a>\n<\/p>\n \n Robert Burns\u2019 favourite inn is now home to a Michelin Guide restaurant<\/a>\n<\/p>\n \n Book exploring Robert Burns-slavery connections up for leading literary award<\/a>\n<\/p>\n \n The original 1787 portrait was painted by the Edinburgh-born artist Alexander Nasmyth as part of a marketing strategy for the\u00a0second (Edinburgh) edition of Burns\u2019 breakthrough book, Poems, Chiefly in\u00a0the Scottish Dialect. This painting, which is now recognised across the world, is part of Scotland\u2019s national art collection. For the first time, Raeburn and Nasmyth\u2019s paintings will go on display side by side at the National gallery on the Mound in Edinburgh, to allow visitors to make their own comparisons of the two portraits.\n<\/p>\n \n Following the publication of the second edition of his poems, in 1787, Burns became a social phenomenon. The inclusion of an engraving of Nasmyth\u2019s portrait made the poet an instantly recognisable celebrity. Burns had already achieved fame by the end of his short life, having passed away at just 37-years-old, but became a Scottish national icon in the 19th and 20th centuries.\n<\/p>\n \n Such was Burns’ popularity that in 1802 publishers Cadell & Davies decided to commission a new version of Nasmyth\u2019s original 1787 portrait for use in future publications. By this time Burns\u2019s close friend Alexander Cunningham was the custodian of the Nasmyth painting. He agreed to the proposal, advising that there was only one choice of artist, Henry Raeburn. One of Scotland\u2019s most celebrated painters, Raeburn was a leading portraitist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.\n<\/p>\n \n Over the years correspondence between Raeburn and Cadell & Davies, regarding both the commission and the delivery of the painting, has come to light. This proved the existence of the artwork, although with no clues as to where it ended up. One letter dated February 22, 1804 from Raeburn reads: \u2018Nothing could be more gratifying to me than the approbation you express of the copy I made\u2019.\n<\/p>\n \n \n While the commission was to be based on the Nasmyth, Raeburn transformed the painting into a life-size portrait, using his considerable and instantly recognisable skills and expressive brushstrokes to bring Burns to life. Thin paint layers are applied in the artist\u2019s characteristic direct manner using a warm palette of colours, capturing the essence of the poet effortlessly.\n<\/p>\n \n The painting has since been cleaned and examined, with several experts agreeing that this is the lost Raeburn portrait of Burns. The Raeburn attribution has been confirmed by: James Holloway, former Director of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery; Dr Duncan Thomson, former Keeper of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery; Helen Smailes, Senior Curator of British Art at the National Galleries of Scotland; Lesley Stevenson, Senior Paintings Conservator at the National Galleries of Scotland; and Dr Bendor Grosvenor, art historian.\n<\/p>\n \n William Zachs, owner of the painting and Director of Blackie House Library and Museum in Edinburgh, said: “This week at Burns Suppers in Scotland and around the world we toast the Immortal Memory of the poet. Now we have a new immortal visual memory \u2013 a once lost painting by Sir Henry Raeburn, the Scottish great portrait artist, that depicts Robert Burns not just as a genius poet but as a celebrated (and handsome) Scotsman whose significance would endure \u201ctill a’ the seas gang dry\u201d.”\n<\/p>\n \n Lesley Stevenson, Senior Conservator (Paintings), at the National Galleries of Scotland, said: “Raeburn\u2019s expressive,\u00a0seemingly effortless\u00a0brushwork, the characteristic warm palette, soft, atmospheric\u00a0lighting\u00a0and sensitive rendering of the instantly recognisable Robert Burns,\u00a0are\u00a0a joy. This is a significant discovery and one we can all celebrate.”\n<\/p>\n \n READ MORE:\n<\/p>\n \n The Glasgow schoolgirl who went viral after selling first painting aged 11<\/a>\n<\/p>\n \n New art treasures venue on Edinburgh waterfront secures \u00a356m funding deal<\/a>\n<\/p>\n \n Historic Glasgow art group rescued from collapse holds first show in ten years<\/a>\n<\/p>\n \n Dr Duncan Thomson, former Keeper of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery and curator of the last major exhibition on Sir Henry Raeburn at National Galleries of Scotland, said:\u00a0“The rediscovery of this portrait of Burns, after having disappeared for two hundred years, is of enormous significance, linking the poet\u202fwith Scotland’s greatest artist. Although Raeburn was working from an image made by another painter, the portrait has that wonderful freshness of observation that marks Raeburn’s work at its best. It is more than likely that Raeburn had seen Burns in his heyday in Edinburgh a decade\u00a0earlier, and\u00a0had\u00a0observed\u00a0that\u202fglowing eye that had so impressed the young Walter Scott. The result is a portrait that speaks in an entirely new way of the warmth, the\u00a0sensuality\u00a0and the\u202fprofound intelligence that we find in Burns’s poetry.”\n<\/p>\n \n James Holloway, former Director of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, said:”This is a once in a generation discovery: thrilling for lovers of both Burns and Raeburn.”\n<\/p>\n \n Professor Murray Pittock, Pro Vice-Principal University of Glasgow<\/a>, said:\u00a0“Raeburn\u2019s portrait of Burns shines with the glow which is typical of the painter. It shows the now-dead poet moving into the realm of legendary icon, a transition he was to\u00a0accomplish\u00a0within less than a generation. In that sense the Burns we celebrate today is Raeburn\u2019s Burns, though until now we did not know it.”\n<\/p>\nDr William (Bill) Zachs photographed with re-discovered portrait of Robert Burns by Henry Raeburn (left) and portrait of Robert Burns by Alexander Nasmyth, 1787 (right) (Image: Nick Mailer)\n<\/p>\n