''The Graham Children'' is an oil painting completed by

William Hogarth William Hogarth (; 10 November 1697 – 26 October 1764) was an English painter, engraver, pictorial satirist, social critic, editorial cartoonist and occasional writer on art. His work ranges from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like s ...

in 1742. It is a group portrait depicting the four children of

Daniel Graham Daniel Lawrence Graham (born November 16, 1978) is a former American football tight end in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Colorado, and was recognized as a consensus All-American. He was ...

apothecary ''Apothecary'' () is a mostly archaic term for a medical professional who formulates and dispenses '' materia medica'' (medicine) to physicians, surgeons, and patients. The modern chemist (British English) or pharmacist (British and North Ameri ...

to King George II. The youngest child had died by the time the painting was completed.

Provenance

The painting was in the ownership of Richard Robert Graham, depicted on the far right of the painting, at least until his death in 1816. It then had several owners before it was acquired by Lord Duveen who presented it to the British

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...

in 1934.''The Tate Gallery: An Illustrated Companion to the National Collections of British & Modern Foreign Art''. London: Tate Gallery, 1979, p. 15.

Composition

''The Graham Children'' is a

conversation piece A conversation piece refers to a group portrait in a domestic or landscape setting depicting persons chatting or otherwise socializing with each other.breeched, Henrietta, Anna Maria and

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Frankish language, Old Frankish and is a Compound (linguistics), compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' an ...

Infant mortality Infant mortality is the death of young children under the age of 1. This death toll is measured by the infant mortality rate (IMR), which is the probability of deaths of children under one year of age per 1000 live births. The under-five morta ...

in Britain was high in the eighteenth century, even for the children of the wealthy, and Thomas had died before the painting was completed. Hogarth used a study, probably completed after Thomas's death, as the basis for his image. With its numerous references to death and the passage of time, it may be that the painting is a form of memorial for Thomas. Postle, Martin. (2005) "The Age of Innocence: Child Portraiture in Georgian Art and Society", in ''Pictures of Innocence: Portraits of Children from Hogarth to Lawrence''. Bath:

Holburne Museum of Art The Holburne Museum (formerly known as the Holburne of Menstrie Museum and the Holburne Museum of Art) is located in Sydney Pleasure Gardens, Bath, Somerset, England. The city's first public art gallery, the Grade I listed building, is home to ...

, p. 73. The children are painted life size, surrounded by plush furnishings and fabrics that reflect the family's wealth. A gilded bird cage is suspended from a cord and Thomas sits in an ornate baby cart with a fine silver fruit bowl at his feet. Richard plays a tune on a bird-organ, apparently making the bird sing. The French

Rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...

was at its height in the 1730s and its influence can be seen in the painting despite Hogarth not visiting France until 1743.

William Gaunt William Charles Anthony Gaunt (born 3 April 1937 in Pudsey, West Riding of Yorkshire) is an English actor. He became widely known for television roles such as Richard Barrett in ''The Champions'' (1968–1969), Arthur Crabtree in '' No Place ...

thought that Hogarth was more familiar with current French painting than he liked to admit. The girl's aprons form serpentine S's, vertically in the oldest child, ending as it falls over her arm, and horizontally in the younger girl. A similar shape can be seen in the falling curtain on the right. The heads of the children and the cat create another noticeable S shape. The fruit bowl, a common subject in Rococo art, has been described as a "bravura piece of still-life painting" untypical of Hogarth's work. Study of Thomas Graham by William Hogarth c

Study of Thomas Graham by William Hogarth c

Themes

David Bindman described ''The Graham Children'' as having a theme worthy of a

history painting History painting is a genre in painting defined by its subject matter rather than any artistic style or specific period. History paintings depict a moment in a narrative story, most often (but not exclusively) Greek and Roman mythology and Bible ...

. Hogarth turned what could have been a simple family scene, even one with a tragic edge, into a parable about the “passing of time and the vulnerability of innocence”. The picture plays with time with different parts moving at different speeds. The boys are captured in mid movement, like the cat and bird, while the girls seem to be completely still, so that the picture is both a snap shot of a fleeting moment and a static portrait simultaneously. The oldest, Henrietta, holds the wrist of the youngest, perhaps indicating her future role as a mother, but not tightly and neither exchange looks, but neither do any of the children. Henrietta, instead, looks at the spectator, indicating her awareness of the adult world that she will soon join. The other children, however, remain in the innocent bubble of childhood. Thomas is fascinated by the glistening cherries held by his sister, which in Christian

iconography Iconography, as a branch of art history, studies the identification, description and interpretation of the content of images: the subjects depicted, the particular compositions and details used to do so, and other elements that are distinct fro ...

represent the fruit of Paradise and the antidote to

original sin Original sin is the Christian doctrine that holds that humans, through the fact of birth, inherit a tainted nature in need of regeneration and a proclivity to sinful conduct. The biblical basis for the belief is generally found in Genesis 3 (t ...

, and for Henrietta symbolise the challenges she will soon face as she enters adulthood. Anna Maria practices the dance steps and curtseys that will be required of her in society, and Richard enjoys the musical performance of the finch. His bird-organ bears an image of

Orpheus Orpheus (; Ancient Greek: Ὀρφεύς, classical pronunciation: ; french: Orphée) is a Thracian bard, legendary musician and prophet in ancient Greek religion. He was also a renowned poet and, according to the legend, travelled with Jaso ...

from Greek mythology, referring to the temporary harmony of man and nature that cannot last. On the clock stands a small winged figure with

scythe A scythe ( ) is an agricultural hand tool for mowing grass or harvesting crops. It is historically used to cut down or reap edible grains, before the process of threshing. The scythe has been largely replaced by horse-drawn and then tractor m ...

and

hour glass An hourglass (or sandglass, sand timer, sand clock or egg timer) is a device used to measure the passage of time. It comprises two glass bulbs connected vertically by a narrow neck that allows a regulated flow of a substance (historically sand) ...

representing the passage of time, while the smiling cat eyes the caged bird, referring to the fragility of life. A wooden bird adorns the baby cart, like the caged bird unable to take flight. The crossed flowers at the baby's feet refer to the Christian legend that pink

carnations ''Dianthus caryophyllus'' (), commonly known as the carnation or clove pink, is a species of ''Dianthus''. It is likely native to the Mediterranean region but its exact range is unknown due to extensive cultivation for the last 2,000 years.Med ...

sprang from the earth at the spot where

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

's tears fell after she saw Jesus carrying the cross, thus making the flower a symbol of motherly love. The bird depicted is a goldfinch, which for centuries had symbolised the Redemption, appropriate here because of Thomas's death. Hogarth included wit and pathos in the same scene by audaciously placing the predatory cat in one corner and the recently deceased child in the other. The reaction of Thomas's parents to this combination, which might have been seen as in poor taste, is unknown. The painting remained in Richard Graham's possession until at least 1816.

Details

File:Cat and bird, The Graham Children, Hogarth.jpg, The cat and its prey File:Orpheus The Graham Children, Hogarth.jpg, Orpheus on the bird-organ File:Cupid with scythe The Graham Children.jpg, Time with scythe and hourglass File:Still life, The Graham Children, Hogarth.jpg, The fruit basket File:Bird on the carriage, The Graham Children, Hogarth.jpg, The flightless bird on the baby cart

Antecedents

Anthony van Dyck - Five Eldest Children of Charles I - Google Art Project

''The Graham Children'' invited comparison with

Anthony van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (, many variant spellings; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Brabantian Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Southern Netherlands and Italy. The seventh c ...

's ''The Five Eldest Children of Charles I'' (1637). Both included animals for comic effect and took care to give each child an individual character. However, while Van Dyck (1599–1641) was commissioned by King Charles I to paint royalty, Hogarth's portraits were mainly of the rising middle class, and he never broke through to become a court painter. Unlike the children of Charles I, there is nothing aristocratic about ''The Graham Children'', despite their affluence, and the allusion to the earlier work may have been a deliberate attempt by Hogarth to flatter his middle class client.

Hogarth's paintings of children

From around the 1730s, Hogarth developed a genre of playful conversation pieces far removed from the grand history paintings that he really wanted to produce but for which he had no commissions.Waterhouse, Ellis. (1994) ''Painting in Britain: 1530–1790.'' 5th edition. New Haven and London:

Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day, and became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and operationally autonomous. , Yale Universi ...

, pp. 168–169. He was working against a background of what has been called a "new world" of childhood where the attitude to children was becoming more liberal. Family groups in painting became less formal and began to show parents and children enjoying recreational activities together. Portraits of individual children became more common than they had been in the seventeenth century and the idea of the "innocence" of childhood began to take root based on the view that the child was an uncorrupted blank slate as advocated by

John Locke John Locke (; 29 August 1632 – 28 October 1704) was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment thinkers and commonly known as the "father of liberalism ...

in his book ''

Some Thoughts Concerning Education ''Some Thoughts Concerning Education'' is a 1693 treatise on the education of gentlemen written by the English philosopher John Locke. For over a century, it was the most important philosophical work on education in England. It was translated ...

'' (1693). If the child was now innocent, however, the picture remained the product of a commercial transaction between the client and the artist and continued to fulfil a social function of demonstrating the happy family life and social status enjoyed by the customer. It also stood in a tradition of

portrait painting Portrait Painting is a genre in painting, where the intent is to represent a specific human subject. The term 'portrait painting' can also describe the actual painted portrait. Portraitists may create their work by commission, for public and pr ...

of adults and children that had well established conventions. In 1730, Hogarth had produced the "before and after" pair ''The House of Cards'' and ''The Tea Party'' where various minor mishaps occur relating to a house of cards and a doll's tea party. Numerous clues in both works suggest a more serious message about broken marriage hopes and loss but the full facts are not known. ''The Cholmondeley Family'' of 1732 also included similar ingredients of impending disaster as a playful child goes to push over a pile of books while the older generation sit by, frozen, to be reanimated when the books fall. But in this work it is the mother who is included despite having died prior. Well stocked bookcases line the background which the adults can use to civilise the wild children.Postle, pp. 12 & 30. File:A House of Cards, William Hogarth, 1730.jpg, ''The House of Cards'', William Hogarth, 1730. Oil on canvas,

National Museum Cardiff National Museum Cardiff ( cy, Amgueddfa Genedlaethol Caerdydd) is a museum and art gallery in Cardiff, Wales. The museum is part of the wider network of Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales. Entry is kept free by a grant from the Welsh Go ...

. File:A Tea Party, William Hogarth, 1730.jpg, ''The Tea Party'', William Hogarth, 1730. Oil on canvas, National Museum Cardiff. File:The Cholmondeley Family, William Hogarth, 1732.jpg, ''The Cholmondeley Family'', William Hogarth, 1732. Oil on canvas, National Gallery, London.

Notes

References

External links

National Gallery notes about ''The Graham Children'' for primary school teachers.Pictures of Innocence: Children in 18th Century Portraiture Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Kendal.

Sue Hubbard Sue Hubbard is a poet, novelist and art critic based in the UK. Hubbard has published three collections of poetry with her fourth due from Salmon Press, Ireland in 2020, three novels, a collection of short stories and a book on art. She has wri ...

.
'The Graham Children' and Painting Related to Childhood.
Diana Francocci.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Graham Children 1742 paintings Paintings in the National Gallery, London Paintings by William Hogarth Paintings of children Cats in art Finches in art Musical instruments in art