Our very famous Oscar Wilde portrait traveled to Basel, Switzerland in February to be a part of the exhibition, The First Homosexuals: The Birth of New Identities 1869–1939, at the Kunstmuseum Basel, after a very successful first iteration in Chicago in 2025. The Kunstmuseum exhibition closes August 2, 2026.
The painting itself is one of our most prized and popular, and our most requested work for loans. It is a full-length portrait, painted by American artist Robert Goodloe Harper Pennington, of a young Wilde, which he commissioned as a present for his wife, Constance, when they were getting married. When Wilde was imprisoned for his homosexuality, he lost possession of the portrait. The painting was rescued by his friends Ernest and Ada Leverson and eventually became part of the collection of Harrison Post, who gave it to his lover (and founder of the Library), William Andrews Clark, Jr.
When going on exhibit, we have a staff member accompany our collection items to ensure their safe handling and security. This includes watching them get packed and then unpacked and installed at the exhibition. It also requires check-ins before and afterward with a conservator to ensure the condition of the item(s) has remained the same. While it is a somewhat involved process, we look forward to picking up our painting in a few months from the Kunstmuseum!
-Ikumi Crocoll, Instruction and Engagement Librarian