The Painter's Daughters Chasing a Butterfly

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search

The Painter's Daughters Chasing a Butterfly
File:File-Gainsborough - The Painters Daughters Chasing a ButterflyHD.jpg
Lua error in Module:Infobox_mapframe at line 197: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
ArtistThomas Gainsborough
Year1756
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions113.5 cm × 105 cm (44.7 in × 41 in)
LocationNational Gallery, London

The Painter's Daughters Chasing a Butterfly is a painting by Thomas Gainsborough. It was created sometime in 1756 and is now in the collection of the National Gallery in London.[1]

Analysis

[edit | edit source]

The painting depicts Mary ("Molly", 31 January 1750 - 2 July 1826)[2] and Margaret ("Peggy", 19 August 1751 - 18 December 1820)[3] Gainsborough engaging in the titular activity. The younger daughter reaching to grab the butterfly represents the fragility of life while the elder daughter's apprehensive facial expression reveals her edging towards maturity.[4] The Painter's Daughters Chasing a Butterfly proved to be a pivotal moment in Gainsborough's artistry as Jonathan Jones writes that "[it] was one of the first works in which Gainsborough developed from his early, Dutch-realist manner to the exuberant scale of his later portraits".[5]

References

[edit | edit source]
  1. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  2. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  3. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  4. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  5. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).