Rediscovered Henry Raeburn portrait of Robert Burns goes on display for Burns Night

A portrait of Robert Burns attributed to Henry Raeburn that had been missing for roughly two centuries has been recovered and is on display at the National Galleries of Scotland to coincide with Burns Night, the collector William Zachs and gallery curators said. The work was identified after Zachs was alerted last March to a painting offered at Wimbledon Auctions.

Zachs and Duncan Thomson, a former director of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery and a Raeburn expert, examined a high-definition photograph and concluded the painting fit the long-sought description. Zachs entered a bidding war and bought the canvas for about $113,000; the auction house had initially estimated the lot at roughly $400 to $700 and said the painting’s significance was unknown when it was consigned from a house clearance in Hampton Court.

Zachs said experts have vouched for the attribution, with Lesley Stevenson, head of conservation at the National Galleries of Scotland, pointing to materials Raeburn favored — a twill weave canvas and traces of vermillion in multiple layers. Zachs sent the slightly yellowed painting to the Simon Gillespie Studio in London for restoration; the studio, which does not authenticate artworks, said revealing the picture "without yellow varnish and dirt, it becomes blatantly obvious," and also found evidence of a restoration about 100 years ago.

Key Topics

Culture, Robert Burns, Henry Raeburn, William Zachs, Wimbledon Auctions, Burns Night