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This fine portrait shows General Henry Wynyard, and is an excellent example of Raeburn’s most emphatic and romantic portrait style. It was exhibited in the 19th Century, and later was in the collection of the Los Angeles Museum of Art. General Wynyard was a member of one of the leading military families in the 19th Century, and went on to serve in the Royal Household. He joined the army as an Ensign in the 1st Foot Guards in 1779. He saw action during the French Revolutionary wars in Holland under the command of Sir Ralph Abercromby, and was wounded during the Helder campaign in 1799. He was appointed a Major General in 1802, serving on the general staff, and then became Col. of the 46th Regiment. He acted for a time as a Groom of the Bedchamber to the Duke of Cumberland, later the King of Hanover. An early owner of the present portrait, Col. William Cornwallis West (1835-1917), was a British Parliamentarian and Honorary Col. in the 4th Battalion of the Royal Welch Fusiliers.
Throughout his life Raeburn was highly praised for the clarity, drama and honesty of his portraiture. Born in Edinburgh in 1756 he was orphaned at the age of six and later apprenticed to a jeweller and goldsmith. By the 1770s he had begun to paint miniatures and later in that decade progressed to full-length portraits. It was not until his marriage to a wealthy widow, Ann Edgar in 1780 that he received any formal training. He moved to London with the backing of his wife's finances in 1784 and became a pupil of Reynolds. This was followed by a trip to Rome before the artist returned to Edinburgh to set up what became a successful practice. He exhibited at the Royal Academy fifty-three times between 1792 and 1823, and received both a knighthood and the title of His Majesty's First Limner and Painter in Scotland.