''Blind-Man's Buff'' is an 1812

genre painting Genre painting (or petit genre) is the painting of genre art, which depicts aspects of everyday life by portraying ordinary people engaged in common activities. One common definition of a genre scene is that it shows figures to whom no identity ca ...

by the Scottish artist David Wilkie. It shows a game of

Blind man's buff Blind man's buff or blind man's bluff is a variant of tag in which the player who is "It" (i.e, the person who is tagging others) is blindfolded. The traditional name of the game is "blind man's buff", where the word ''buff'' is used in its old ...

. While depictions of the game had appeared in art before, Willkie chose to portray a humbler settling than earlier versions generally set in

drawing room A drawing room is a room in a house where visitors may be entertained, and an alternative name for a living room. The name is derived from the 16th-century terms withdrawing room and withdrawing chamber, which remained in use through the 17th ce ...

s.Clarke & Remington p.58

History

It was commissioned by George, Prince Regent who intended it to be a

companion piece A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music, or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

to a work already in his collection '' The Village Choristers'' (1810) by

Edward Bird Edward Bird (1772 – 2 November 1819) was an English genre painter who spent most of his working life in Bristol, where the Bristol School of artists formed around him. He enjoyed a few years of popularity in London, where he challenged ...

. He gave Wilkie a free hand to choose whatever subject he wanted. He exhibited it at a solo exhibition in 1812 and then at the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

's Summer Exhibition of 1813 at

Somerset House Somerset House is a large neoclassical architecture, neoclassical building complex situated on the south side of the Strand, London, Strand in central London, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The Georgian era quadran ...

, where it was "full as much liked as any I ever painted". It shows the influence of

seventeenth century The 17th century lasted from January 1, 1601 (represented by the Roman numerals MDCI), to December 31, 1700 (MDCC). It falls into the early modern period of Europe and in that continent (whose impact on the world was increasing) was characterize ...

Old Masters In art history, "Old Master" (or "old master")Old Masters De ...

on Wilkie's early genre paintings. It became even better known due to a popular

engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design on a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a Burin (engraving), burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or Glass engraving, glass ar ...

produced by Abraham Raimbach in 1822. The Regent was pleased with the work, which cost him 500

guineas The guinea (; commonly abbreviated gn., or gns. in plural) was a coin, minted in Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold. The name came from the Guinea region in West Africa, from where m ...

, and hung it in his London residence

Carlton House Carlton House, sometimes Carlton Palace, was a mansion in Westminster, best known as the town residence of George IV, during the regency era and his time as prince regent, before he took the throne as king. It faced the south side of Pall M ...

. It was later recorded at the King's Lodge at

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places *Detroit–Windsor, Michigan-Ontario, USA-Canada, North America; a cross-border metropolitan region Australia New South Wales *Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area Queen ...

. It remains in the

Royal Collection The Royal Collection of the British royal family is the largest private art collection in the world. Spread among 13 occupied and historic List of British royal residences, royal residences in the United Kingdom, the collection is owned by King ...

. In 1818 George commissioned Willkie to produce a further companion piece ''

The Penny Wedding ''The Penny Wedding'' is an 1818 genre painting by the British artist David Wilkie. It depicts a traditional penny wedding in which the guests each paid a penny towards the cost. Wilkie had toured the Scottish Highlands the previous year but th ...

''.Clarke & Remington p.62

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Blind-Man's Buff 1812 paintings Paintings by David Wilkie Paintings in the Royal Collection of the United Kingdom Genre paintings