"The art collector and Burns enthusiast William Zachs, the director of Blackie House Library and Museum in Edinburgh, purchased the painting for 68,000 (plus fees) in a tense nine-minute bidding war before he could be sure of the Raeburn attribution. Every year or so, a painting comes up which could be a lost Raeburn, and none ever has been. The image was widely copied, and the painting was dirty and covered in dark varnish, Zachs says."
"Raeburn was commissioned to make the portrait in 1803, seven years after Burns's death, by the publishers Cadell & Davies as the basis for an engraving for a new collection of his poems. The artist worked from Alexander Nasmyth's portrait of Burns, painted from life in 1787, which is in the National Galleries of Scotland collection, and the two paintings are now displayed side by side."
"A portrait of Robert Burns by Henry Raeburn, which was lost for more than 200 years, has been put on public display for the first time at the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh. The exhibiting of the work is just in time for Burns Night (25 January), the annual celebration of Scotland's best-known poet. Now it's back to the country where it all began."
A Henry Raeburn portrait of Robert Burns, missing for over 200 years, has been placed on public display at the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh ahead of Burns Night. The early 19th-century work resurfaced in a Surrey house clearance and was auctioned in Wimbledon in March 2025 with a low guide price; William Zachs acquired it for £68,000 plus fees after a nine-minute bidding war before confirming the Raeburn attribution. Raeburn painted the image in 1803 using Alexander Nasmyth's 1787 likeness as a basis for an engraving commissioned by Cadell & Davies. Experts have confirmed the attribution and the painting has been cleaned and reunited with the Nasmyth portrait for display.
Read at www.theartnewspaper.com
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