The rescue
1855

• John Everett MILLAIS

Purchased from the artist by Joseph Arden (1799–1879), 1855; his collection, Rickmansworth Park, Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, until 1879; included in the late Joseph Arden sale, Christie's, London, 26 April 1879, no. 68; from which purchased by Agnew's (dealer), London, stock no. 914[1]; from where purchased (from the Liverpool branch) by Holbrook Gaskell (1813–1909), 13 September 1879; his collection, Woolton Woods, Liverpool, until 1909; included in the late Holbrook Gaskell sale, Christie's, London, 24 June 1909, no. 67; from which purchased by Agnew's, London, stock no. 3039[2]; from where purchased by Charles Fairfax Murray (1849–1919), 24 June 1909; his collection, London, until 1917; his sale, Christie's, London, 14 December 1917, no. 59; from which purchased by Eugene Cremetti (dealer), London; with Cremetti/McLean Galleries, London, until 1923; included in the sale of stock held by Cremetti, Christie's, London, 1 June 1923, no. 149; purchased by W. W. Sampson & Son (dealer), London, 1923; from whom acquired, on the advice of Frank Rinder, for the Felton Bequest, 1923; arrived Melbourne, 1924.

[1] See Agnew’s Picture Stockbook 1874–79, NGA27/1/1/5, pp. 264-65, Thomas Agnew & Sons archive, National Gallery Research Centre, London, accessed https://cld.bz/hPd11Tu

[2] See Agnew’s Picture Stockbook 1879–85, NGA27/1/1/6, pp. 40-41, Thomas Agnew & Sons archive, National Gallery Research Centre, London, accessed https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/research/research-centre/agnews-stock-books/reference-nga27116-1879-85

Exhibited Royal Academy, London, 1855, no. 282; Liverpool Academy, 1855, no. 244; Royal Scottish Academy 1859, no. 27; The Works of Sir John E. Millais, Bart. RA, Grosvenor Gallery, London, 1886, no. 92; International Exhibition, Glasgow, 1888, no. 164; Works of the Late Sir John Everett Millais, Bart., Royal Academy Winter Exhibition, 1898, no. 10; Earl’s Court, London, 1903; Special Inaugural Exhibition of Pictures, Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 1904, no. 95; Irish International Exhibition, Dublin, 1907, no. 60; lent Tate Gallery, July–December 1923; Pre-Raphaelite Art, State Art Galleries of Australia, 1962, no. 50; Romantic Art in Britain, Detroit and Philadelphia, 1968, no. 227; Bicentenary Exhibition, RA, London, 1968–9, no. 334; Praraffaeliten, Baden-Baden and Frankfurt, 1973–4, no. 72; Picture of the Month, NGV, Melbourne, 1974; The Pre-Raphaelites, Tate Gallery, London, 1984, no. 67.