Can you help solve the mystery of this painting?
MYSTERY surrounds the history of a painting of Nuneaton’s most famous resident.
Andrew Sim is searching for details about a piece of artwork he bought which depicts the novelist George Eliot.
Eliot, whose real name was Mary Ann Evans, is believed to be shown in the painting as a young woman before she became famous.
Mr Sim, an art dealer, is looking for help to trace the history of the picture.
He bought the picture in 2016 at a small auction in South Oxfordshire, where it was listed simply as 19th Century Portrait of a Lady. Working with one of George Eliot’s biographers, Kathryn Hughes, they agree that the likeness and the date means there is a strong probability that the young woman is a 26-year-old Mary.
A popular theory is that Mary had a relationship with a young artist/picture restorer from Leamington called George Barker Jnr.
This is thought to have been a portrait he made of her before she became notable as author George Eliot.
Mr Sim has also said that other experts agree including most notably Eliot authroity Professor Nancy Henry.
The information Mr Sim is lacking is the full history of the picture, including where it has been since it was created and today. It was painted in 1845 at Baginton in a country house.
Mr Sim said that after buying the picture he found the vendor. He said: “I have managed subsequently to trace the vendor, an elderly man, who had bought it the previous year from a market stall in Thame.
“I then managed to trace the stallholder, who remembers the picture but, frustratingly, can’t remember where he bought it. There the trail goes cold.”
Although a lot of the information is unknown, Mr Sim has his suspicions. He added: “I strongly suspect that the picture came from a house clearance or similar in the Thame area but where it came from prior to that is anybody’s guess.
“It is highly unlikely that the picture was ever in George Eliot’s possession, given the short-lived nature of her affair with Barker.
“Much more likely is that the picture stayed in Barker’s possession as a memento of the young women he fell in love with.
“He lived in Leamington Spa at the time the portrait was painted and worked in the Coventry/Nuneaton area too.”
If you have any information that could help fill in the gaps in the picture’s history, email Andrew at simfineart@ btinternet.com