Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1981.25.509
Classification:
Paintings
Collection:
Paintings and Sculpture
Subject Terms:
portrait | whip | top hat | coat | waistcoat | trousers | ruffle | child | boy
Currently On View:
On view
Exhibition History:
In a New Light: 500 Years of British Art (Yale Center for British Art, 2025-04-01 - 2026-01-30)Great British Paintings from American Collections: Holbein to Hockney (Yale Center for British Art, 2001-09-27 - 2001-12-30)Great British Paintings from American Collections: Holbein to Hockney (The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, 2002-02-01 - 2002-05-05)
Publications:
British Art at Yale, Apollo, vol.105, April 1977, pp. 250-251, fig. 29, N1 .A54 + OVERSIZE (YCBA)Malcolm Cormack, Concise Catalogue of Paintings in the Yale Center for British Art, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 1985, pp. 180-181, N590.2 .A83 (YCBA)Alfred W. Erickson, The collection of twenty-four old master paintings, Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, 1961, p. 21, J495 Er44 961 + (SML)Catherine M. Gordon, British paintings Hogarth to Turner, Frederick Warne, London, 1981, p. 48, ND466 .G67 (YCBA)Painting in England 1700-1850 : collection of Mr. & Mrs. Paul Mellon : Exhibition at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, , , Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA, 1963, v.1, p. 148; v.2, plate on p. 154, no. 281, Plate v.2:p. 154, ND466 V57 v.1-2 (YCBA)Paul Mellon's Legacy : a passion for British art [large print labels], , Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 2007, v. 3, N5220 M552 P381 2007 OVERSIZE (YCBA)Esther Singleton, Old world masters in New world collections, The Macmillan Company, New York, 1929, p. 416, J495 929S + (SML)Wilhelm Reinhold Valentiner, Unknown masterpieces in public and private collections, Zwemmer publisher, London, 1930, Jbd25 930Vg + (SML)Malcolm Warner, Great British paintings from American collections : Holbein to Hockney, , Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 2001, pp. 152-154, no. 42, ND464 W27 2001 (YCBA)Ellis Waterhouse, An Impressive Panorama of British Portraiture, Apollo, v. 105, no. 182, April 1977, pp. 250-51, fig. 29, N1 A54 + (YCBA) Another copy of this article may be found in a separately bound and catalogued copy of this issue located on the Mellon Shelf [call number : N5220 M552 A7 1977 + (YCBA)]
Gallery Label:
As Edinburgh’s preeminent portraitist, Raeburn attracted a clientele ranging from leading intellectual figures to wealthy landowners and their children. This painting was likely commissioned to commemorate McAdam’s inheritance, at ten years old, of the three thousand acres of heaths, pastures, and lochs that made up the extensive Craigengillan estate in southwest Scotland. McAdam is depicted as a miniature adult, his top hat and rider’s whip indicating his prowess in horsemanship and his status as a gentleman. The boy appears at ease in his new role as the head of the family, though he barely had time to enjoy it. He died suddenly in 1827, and the estate was inherited by his sister. Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2025