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Indepth Arts News:
"Family Fortunes: Paintings on Tour from the National Gallery, London"
2001-04-07 until 2001-06-24
Bolton Museum and Art Gallery
Bolton, ,
UK United Kingdom
The 20 paintings on show, including works by Degas, Gainsborough, Hals,
Hogarth and Stubbs, provide a fascinating insight into the depiction of the
family, with important loans to complement the National Gallery's own works.
'Family Fortunes' focuses attention on shifting attitudes towards the family
from the 16th century to the present day. For example, the sentimental
appreciation of children and childish pleasures which emerged in the 18th
century is reflected in three English masterpieces: Gainsborough's 'The
Painter's Daughters chasing a Butterfly', Hogarth's 'Graham Children' and
Reynolds's portrait of 'Lady Cockburn and her Three Eldest Sons'.
The exhibition also investigates how painters have sought visual means to
represent dynastic succession, the continued significance of absent
ancestors or the hopes for future generations - all essential elements of a
family's fortune. It includes depictions of families of every type from
aristocratic portraits to the peasant families of Jan Steen and the Le Nain
brothers.
As part of the National Gallery's commitment to making its masterpieces as
widely available as possible, this exhibition is currently on tour. Seen
earlier this year at Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery, the exhibition
(made possible by a grant of £97,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund) now
travels to Bolton.
IMAGE:
Le Nain,
A Woman and Five Children, 1642.
The National Gallery, London
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