Lessing J. Rosenwald
1930
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
etching
Dimensions
sheet: 44.3 × 24.2 cm (17 7/16 × 9 1/2 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1980.45.982
Art Historical Context
This etching by Scottish artist James McBey captures Lessing J. Rosenwald, the renowned American collector and philanthropist, in 1930. Rendered with the delicate precision characteristic of the medium, the portrait reflects McBey’s skill in conveying personality through subtle tonal variations and line work. As a print, it exemplifies the intimate scale and reproducibility that made etchings popular for portraiture during the early twentieth century. The work belongs to the Rosenwald Collection at the National Gallery of Art, underscoring Rosenwald’s deep commitment to prints and his generou...
About the Artist
James McBey
James McBey (1883–1959) was a Scottish artist renowned for his etchings and paintings, emerging from humble beginnings in Newburgh, Aberdeenshire, as the illegitimate son of a blacksmith's daughter. Largely self-taught, he left school at fifteen to work as a bank clerk in Aberdeen, where he devoured art books from the public library and attended evening classes at Gray's School of Art to hone his ...