There are, according to the museum's website, two studies by Charles Shannon in the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington. One depicts Atlas, for an unknown painting; the second work is one of a series of chalk studies for a painting of 'The Good Samaritan', dated 1918. No painting with this title has survived, but after Shannon died in 1937, a large series of chalk and coloured drawings on the subject were sold.
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| Charles Shannon, study for 'The Good Samaritan', signed 'CS 1918' [National Gallery of Art, Washington DC] [Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication] |
Sotheby's 1939 sale was recorded in the Catalogue of Fine Paintings by Old Masters and Modern Drawings (London, Sotheby’s, 14 June 1939) when the property of 'C.H. Shannon, R.A. (decd.)' was sold by order of the executors. Lot number 8 was described - briefly - as 'The Good Samaritan at the Inn Door', the coloured design[,] Thirteen various Studies[,] Chalks'. The lot was sold for £6 5s to Martin Birnbaum, an American dealer and art critic who had been a longtime friend of Ricketts and Shannon.
This particular study of two male figures for the 'Good Samaritan' was acquired by William Henry Donner in Montreux in the late 1930s (this is what the museum's website tells us, but possibly Donner acquired it in the early 1940s). the study went to his daughter, Dora Donner Ide and, in 1999, Mr. and Mrs. John Jay Ide from San Francisco donated the drawing to the National Gallery of Art.
