LONDON, ENGLAND.- The Art Fund has given a grant of £50,000 to the British Museum towards the acquisition of a magnificent drawing by Sir Thomas Lawrence (1769-1830). This important drawing of Mary Hamilton is arguably the most beautiful female portrait of its type remaining in this country. The total cost of the work was £165,000, with additional funding from the National Heritage Memorial Fund.

The drawing was purchased by a dealer at auction in 2002 and was later sold to a buyer abroad but the export licence was deferred to allow funds to be raised to keep it in the UK. Museums and galleries in the UK are notoriously lacking in fine examples of Lawrence’s works; many of his best paintings and drawings are in private hands or in collections abroad.

Lawrence was great friends with William Hamilton (1751-1801), a history and portrait painter and Royal Academician. They used to draw together in the evenings from antique casts while William’s wife Mary read to them ‘either poetry, history, or works of the imagination.’ Lawrence drew her portrait and exhibited it at the RA in 1789, when he was only twenty.

The framed drawing is in pencil and red and black chalk and is 458 x 312mm in size. Relatively few portrait drawings of this period have been identified with those known to have been exhibited at the Royal Academy.

Portrait drawings were an extremely popular genre of art; they were indicators of taste, sentiment and social and material culture, yet this is an area which has been little-studied. This exquisite drawing could form one of the bases of such a study and its acquisition has provided the British Museum with an opportunity to place Lawrence at the centre of this fashionable genre.

It is a significant contribution to the national collection of drawings, housed in the British Museum, which includes a handful of Lawrence’s portrait drawings, including a slight but lovely profile of Lady Emma Hamilton.

The vigour and freedom that characterised Lawrence’s early work are manifest in this charming drawing. Its location was unknown until its sale and it must be regarded as an important discovery of a work in an historically significant genre and medium by one of the country’s most significant artists. Delacroix described Lawrence’s portraiture as ‘incomparable’ and in his time, his portrait drawings were rivalled only by Ingres.

David Barrie, Director of the Art Fund commented, ‘The Art Fund is delighted that Sir Thomas Lawrence’s magnificent drawing will now be housed in the British Museum. This acquisition marks an extremely important contribution to the national collection of drawings, especially as many of Lawrence’s best paintings and drawings remain in private hands.’

Stephen Johnson, Director of the National Heritage Memorial Fund said, ‘This drawing is a beautiful addition to the British Museum's collections and like the other 1,200 iconic pieces of our heritage that we have helped save, it would have been a huge loss if it had left these shores for good. The NHMF was set-up to honour those who gave their lives in war for this country, so as we celebrate our Silver Jubilee and as the nation commemorates the end of WWII, this seems is a particularly appropriate time to save such an important picture.’

Kim Sloan, Curator at the British Museum said, ‘This is arguably the most important British drawing, and certainly the most beautiful, to be added to the collection for many years. We are very grateful for the support of the Export Reviewing Committee and the generosity of all the funding bodies and are thrilled to be able to share it with everyone by placing it on display.’

The drawing is now on display at the British Museum as the highlight of the exhibition, ‘Masterpieces of Portrait Drawing, 1450–1800’ in room 90.