Lawrence Reid Yates
ca. 1794
Medium
Painting-Miniature
Classification
Painting-Miniature
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Catherine Walden Myer Fund
Accession Number
1956.1.3
Tags
About this artwork
Lawrence Reid Yates (died 1796) was a New York merchant who had his portrait painted by Gilbert Stuart. Walter Robertson, who came to the United States at Stuartâs urging, often copied in miniature his mentorâs paintings, and this image of Yates is such a copy. The full-scale portrait hangs in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, and was painted in 1793 or 1794. A miniature of Richard Yatesâs wife, by an unknown artist, is also in this collection [see 1956.1.2].
Art Historical Context
Step into the refined world of late 18th-century American portraiture with *Lawrence Reid Yates*, a delicate miniature painting by Irish artist Walter Robertson, created around 1794. This bust-length likeness captures New York merchant Lawrence Reid Yatesdied 1796), prosperous life embodied the bustling commerce of post-Revolutionary America Robertson, who emigrated to the United States at the invitation of renowned portraitist Gilbert Stuart, faithfully copied Stuart's full-scale original—painted in 1793 or 1794 and now housed in the National of Art in Washington, D.C. Miniature paintings li...