Boy with Apples

Boy with Apples
Boy with Apples
Boy with Apples
National Museum Wales, Cardiff
title=Credit line
Artist
Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782)
Title
Boy with Apples
Date
Before 1750 (undated)
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
Metric: 91.5 x 71.5 cm
Imperial: 36 x 28 in.
Accession Number
NMW A 189
Wilson Online Reference
P26
Description
A boy of about 12 years is seated on the ground toying with some apples. He wears a grey coat and breeches with a blue waistcoat. His hair is natural and restrained in the front with a comb. In the background are trees behind a fence (left) and to the right distant woodland and clouds with a sunset (or rising sun).
Exhibited
Tooth Galleries London, 1945 (164)
Provenance
Mr M. Marcussen; Sotheby's 5 October 1943 (64 - English School, Eighteenth Century, Portrait of a Boy seated on the ground toying with some apples); purchased privately by Arthur Tooth & Sons Ltd, London; bt by the National Museum of Wales, January 1946 as by Hogarth
Signature/inscription
Unsigned; no inscription
Techniques and materials
The loose handling of the paint, particularly in the flesh and costume, as well as the landscape setting, is typical of Wilson. The double grey ground and the range of pigments are normal for the period. X-radiography clearly shows a horizontal sweep of hair across the boy's forehead, which may indicate the presence of a cap, subsequently painted out. Infra-red reflectography shows slight alterations around the apples in the foreground.
Subject
The sitter has not been identified.
Critical commentary
In 1729 Wilson moved to London to study with the portrait painter, Thomas Wright. He subsequently enjoyed success as a portraitist on his own account, prior to his departure for Italy in 1750. Dating from shortly before Wilson left Britain, the boy is depicted in a relaxed pose with an informal naturalism reminiscent of William Hogarth, whose work was well known to Wilson, and to whom the authorship of the picture was attributed in 1946. The significance of the apples (if any) is elusive but could conceivably relate to temptation in the Garden of Eden and the sitter's approaching sexual maturity and loss of innocence.
Previous Cat/Ref Nos
Old accession number: 46.25
Ol registration number: 610
1946.1
Bibliography
WGC, p. 154, pl. 8a
Link to WG Constable Archive Record
Condition/Conservation
Kate Lowry has noted: Original linen canvas, simple weave, about 15 threads per sq cm. Cusping is clearly visible at top and bottom edges, but not noticeable left and right edges, suggesting they have been slightly trimmed, possibly due to damages at these margins. All turnover edges removed at time of lining. Other damages to original canvas: two tears visible centre right of head in sky, one tear centre left of sleeve in foliage as well as several small holes, two in background, one in boy's leg and seven in the apples. Relined onto a simple weave canvas, slightly coarser than original, which appears to be previously painted. Four-member pine stretcher probably dates from relining. A smooth even preparation, white in colour, overlays an initial preparation of grey-brown with an intermediate glue size layer. The distribution pattern of the ground shown in X-ray suggests it was applied to the canvas after stretching. X-ray image suggests the boy may have originally been wearing a cap. The IR image shows a curved line passing through his hand - possibly part of a toy. The IR image and X-ray show a pentiment to the top of the sitter's left shoulder and the shadow around the shoulder area. GC-MS analysis of paint indicates the use of a slightly heat-bodied linseed oil medium containing traces of pine and triterpenoid resins. Widespread mature cracks.