Lot 481
English School, 19th c., "Possibly the Children of James Robb of New Orleans", oil on canvas, unsigned, stamped en verso "Rabin Krueger Gallery, Newark, N.J.", and handwritten en verso "Children of Mr. James Robb, around 1850", 30.125in. x 25.125in. E5000/7000 Note: New Orleans entrepreneur, politician and art collector, James Robb built a palatial home in the Garden District and amassed one of the first significant art collections in America. While in Philadelphia in 1844, Robb commissioned the well-known American portraitist Thomas Sully to paint his wife and three of their children. The painting "Portrait of Mrs. Robb and her Three Children" is now in the collection of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art. The Historic New Orleans Collection recently acquired the preliminary oil study for the portrait of Mrs. Louise Robb. This painting, "Possibly the Children of James Robb of New Orleans", shows two young girls, one blond and the other dark haired. They appear to be similar in appearance to the two daughters in the Ogden Museum's portrait. This painting was acquired from an estate in Philadelphia, a city that Robb frequented in connection with his business. According to auction records of the day, Robb did not sell any of his family portraits during his lifetime. Ref: Delehanty, Randolph, Art in American South, Works from the Ogden Collection, Louisiana State University Press, Baton Rouge, 1996, p. 191; and Jordan, George, "THNOC Acquires Thomas Sully's Portrait of Louisa Werninger Robb", 2002, The Historic New Orleans Quarterly.
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