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Historical Portraits of Children

Classic artworks portraying children in various historical contexts, dressed in period clothing, often engaged with objects or pets.

Ganymede. George Frederic Watts (1817-1904). Oil on canvas. Signed and dated 1888. 66 x 53.5cm.
Ganymede. George Frederic Watts (1817-1904). Oil on canvas. Signed and dated 1888. 66 x 53.5cm.
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William Evelyn of St Clere, Kent, Holding a Spaniel ca. 1768-89 Hugh Douglas Hamilton Irish Hamilton belonged to a group of accomplished pastellists trained at the Dublin Society School of Drawing, run by Robert West (ca. 1720-1790) and James Mannin (active 1746-79). The artist moved to London around 1764 and worked from a Pall Mall address in Londons fashionable West End. His patrons included members of the royal family and grandees such as the Duke of Northumberland, with his success indicated by the fact that he typically charged nine guineas for a small pastel. In 1779 Hamilton moved to Italy and adopted a neo-classical style, so the present work represents his English career. It is a charming depiction of a boy aged four or five, the son of a Member of Parliament for Hythe in Kent, and thus a substantial figure in society. The sitter's youth is emphasized by the easy pose and tousled hair, a conception that reflects a newly fashionable “natural” approach to child-rearing. The attEL INFANTE FERNANDO MARIA DE BORBON. Author: LUIS DE LA CRUZ Y RIOS. Location: PALACIO REAL-PINTURA. MADRID. SPAIN.A Girl in an Orange Shawl holding Turnips, A Girl in a green Bonnet and Dress and a Gentleman in black Tricorn Hat. Lorenzo Baldissera Tiepolo (1736-1776). Pastel on paper laid on canvas. 56.3 x 48.4cm"Little Fanny" Carved Figure. Dated: c. 1938. Dimensions: overall: 56 x 40.6 cm (22 1/16 x 16 in.). Medium: watercolor, graphite, and colored pencil on paper. Museum: National Gallery of Art, Washington DC. Author: Stanley Mazur.After the Bath, Fine Art'Becoming A Painter', Jean-Baptiste Van Eycken (1800-1861), 1825-1827 painting Show entitled 'become a painter'. A woman brings her son to a painter to be trained as a painter. The painter sits in front of his donkey on which a painting of a seascape stands, palette and brushes in his hand. The action is presented in a window, on the frame is a painting box. On the right against the wall a bird cage. panel. oil paint (paint) painter training pupilsMP 3673; Polski malarz (malarz); Dziecko w stroju zakonnym; XVIIIw.; olej; p³ótno; 63 x 52Portrait of Matthew Huizinga Messchert. Date/Period: 1839. Painting. Oil on canvas Oil on canvas. Height: 1,274.06 mm (50.15 in); Width: 1,023.11 mm (40.27 in). Author: Manuel Joachim de Franca.Bright as a Dollar. George Herbert McCord (1848-1909). Oil on canvas. 61 x 41cm.Right side altarpiece by Rubens pupil Caspar de Crayer 1660, detail Wolfegger Blumenschmecker, two flower-smelling putti, St., Sankt, Saint'Mrs Payne Galway', 1902-1903. Artist: JR SmithPortrait of the widow Clicquot (Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin, who gave her name to the champagne brand) and her great-granddaughter Anne de MortemartKing Charles II of England, 1630 - 1685, seen here as a child. From a 17th century work by Wallerant Vaillant, after Anthony van Dyck.Francisco de Goya / 'El Lazarillo de Tormes', ca. 1808-1810, Oil on canvas, 80 × 65 cm. Museum: PRIVATE COLLECTION.NINA EN UN SILLON CON GORRITO AMARILLO. Author: ENRIQUE SOBISCH (1929-1989). Location: PRIVATE COLLECTION. MADRID. SPAIN.Motherhood, Severini, Gino (1883-1966)Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida (1863-1923). Spanish painter. My sons, 1904. Detail. Sorolla Museum. Madrid. Spain.princes of Savoy, Emanuele Filiberto and Filippo Emanuele, Dutch school, Jan Kraeck (Giovanni Caracca), Nins, portraits of children s. XVI-XIX, Sa Bassa Blanca Museum (msbb). Yannick Vu and Ben Jakober , Alcudia, Majorca, Spain.Sympathy Briton Riviere (1840-1920 British) Oil on canvasA portrait of a though in a small outfit; Dowe, douwe juwes de (1608-1661/1663); 2. PO. XVII century (1651-00-00-1700-00-00);boys, Dutch painting, hunters, portraits, boys' portraits, portraits against a landscape, dogsJapan: 'Two Girls', oil on canvas by Shigeru Aoki (1882-1911), c. 1909, Kasama Nichido Museum of Art, KasamaThe Daughters of Catulle Mendès, Huguette (1871-1964), Claudine (1876-1937), and Helyonne (1879-1955) 1888 Auguste Renoir French Hoping to recapture the success he had achieved with Madame Georges Charpentier and Her Children (07.122) at the Salon of 1879, Renoir sought to paint the daughters of his friend Catulle Mendès. In addition to the girls manifest charm, he undoubtedly counted on the notoriety of their bohemian parents to gain attention: their father was a Symbolist poet and publisher, and their mother was the virtuoso pianist Augusta Holmès. Renoir completed the commission in a matter of weeks and immediately exhibited the large canvas in May 1888, but the response to his new manner of painting, with its intense hues and schematized faces, was unenthusiastic. Listen to experts illuminate this artwork's story Listen Play or pause #6364. The Daughters of Catulle Mendès, Huguette (1871-1964), Claudine (1876-1937), and Helyonne (1879-1955) Supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies WDoll. Dated: c. 1937. Dimensions: overall: 35.5 x 25.7 cm (14 x 10 1/8 in.) Original IAD Object: 15 1/2" high. Medium: watercolor, graphite, and pen and ink on paperboard. Museum: National Gallery of Art, Washington DC. Author: Erwin Stenzel.Portrait of Tsarevich Peter Petrovich of Russia (1715-1719) as Cupid by Molchanov, Grigori Dmitrievich (ca. 1730-after 1786)/ State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg/ 1772/ Russia/ Oil on canvas/ Rococo/ 53x43/ PortraitPablo Picasso / 'Motherhood', 1903, Pastel and charcoal on paper, 47 x 40 cm, MPB 4.269. Museum: Museo Picasso, Barcelona.Teodor Axentowicz (1859-1938), portrait of a girl in a folk costume; Czernecki, Jan (Wieliczka, Kraków; Publisher; 1905-1939), Anczyc, Władysław Ludwik and company (Kraków; Drukarnia; 1875-1948); around 1908 (1908-00-00-1910-00-00);Auguste Renoir; French; Limoges 1841-1919 Cagnes-sur-Mer; The Daughters of Catulle Mendes; Huguette; (1871-1964); Claudine (1876-1937); and Helyorme (1879-1955); 1888; Oil on canvas.The Beggar; Le Mendiant. Albert Aublet (1851-1938). Dated 1909, oil on canvas, 117.5 x 117.5cm.Joseph Goodhue Chandler, Charles H Sisson, 1850 Charles H. SissonThe Two Sisters, The Serruys Sisters, Georges Lemmen, 1894,Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, North AmericaSerebriakova, Zinaida Yevgenievna (1884-1967) State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow 1914 88,5x107 Oil on canvas Russian End of 19th - Early 20th cen. Russia