George Romney
Portrait of a young boy and girl with their dog and puppy
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George Romney
Dalton 1734 - 1802 Kendal
Portrait of a young boy and girl with their dog and puppy
oil on canvas
canvas: 49 by 39½ in.; 124.5 by 100.3 cm.
framed: 51 by 41 in.; 129.5 by 104.1 cm.
The canvas is lined and is stable on its stretcher. The image reads well beneath the yellowed varnish although the paint layers have been flattened and dimension lost. The upper left sky has discolored with retouching but no other repairs are obvious to the naked eye. Under UV inspection, the varnish fluoresces unevenly but a prior campaign of restoration is visible in the faces of the two children, particularly the younger child, on the neck of the older child, the arm of the younger child, in a few spots in the background, and scattered throughout the white of the children’s dresses. There may be further retouching beneath varnish layers. Offered in a simple giltwood box frame.
By whom sold, London, Christie's, 1 December 1922, lot 112, (60 gns.);
There acquired by Rochelle Thomas;
From whom acquired by Agnews;
From whom acquired by Mme. Julia Martigny de Noy, 1924;
Private collection.
This portrait of two unidentified children is an early example of Romney's child portraiture, painted in the mid-to-late 1760s. The older brother is young enough to still be in skirts, and the younger sister holds a puppy while the mother dog looks up longingly. This conceit was used again in Romney's portrait of The Clavering Children in the 1777.1
1. https://emuseum.huntington.org/objects/4821/thomas-john-clavering-later-sir-thomas-clavering-bart-an?ctx=3856a94329a5edd5c4376b292e7c16262d252a0a&idx=2