- Artist
- Joseph Wright of Derby 1734–1797
- Medium
- Oil paint on canvas
- Dimensions
- Support: 1956 × 1524 mm
frame: 2207 × 1780 × 120 mm - Collection
- Lent from a private collection 1998
On long term loan - Reference
- L02029
Display caption
The sturdy young children in this portrait are grandsons of the industrial entrepreneur, Richard Arkwright. Unlike their grandfather, who had escaped grinding poverty to establish his business empire, or the children who toiled in Arkwright’s sweatshops, these boys were raised by their father (also Richard) as offspring of the aspiring gentry.The painting was one of a series of full-size family portraits made by Wright to hang in the Arkwright family home at Bakewell, Derbyshire. Collectively, such portraits exhibited the family’s cultivation and, in their monumental scale, its dynastic ambitions.
Gallery label, May 2007
Does this text contain inaccurate information or language that you feel we should improve or change? We would like to hear from you.
Explore
- leisure and pastimes(3,435)
-
- recreational activities(2,836)
-
- kite flying(11)
- toys and models(384)
-
- kite(23)
- group(4,227)
- groups(310)