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Captain George K. H. Coussmaker (1759–1801)

1782
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 628
With legs elegantly crossed as he leans against a tree, the young army captain in this portrait embodies aristocratic self-possession and nonchalance. Reynolds’s ambitions for the portrait come across in the number of sittings he required to complete it: twenty-one appointments with Coussmaker between February and April of 1782, and as many as eight sessions with his horse. Portraits such as these commanded exceptionally high prices from American collectors in the late nineteenth century, as they sought to appropriate the perceived elegance and refinement of the British upper classes.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Captain George K. H. Coussmaker (1759–1801)
  • Artist: Sir Joshua Reynolds (British, Plympton 1723–1792 London)
  • Date: 1782
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 93 3/4 x 57 1/4 in. (238.1 x 145.4 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Bequest of William K. Vanderbilt, 1920
  • Object Number: 20.155.3
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

Audio

Cover Image for 5109. Captain George K. H. Coussmaker (1759–1801)

5109. Captain George K. H. Coussmaker (1759–1801)

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