Provenance
The artist's wife [d. 1827]; bequeathed to her eldest son, Catherine Hampden Hoppner; bequeathed to his brother, Richard Belgrave Hoppner [d. 1872]; (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 25 March 1893, no. 358, as _The Hoppner Children_); (Thos. Agnew & Sons, London); sold to (M. Knoedler & Co., New York);[1] purchased 1893 by Peter A.B. Widener, Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania; inheritance from Estate of Peter A.B. Widener by gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener, Elkins Park; gift 1942 to NGA.
[1] M. Knoedler & Co. stock books, recorded by The Getty Provenance Index.
Accession Number
1942.9.35
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 152.5 x 127 cm (60 1/16 x 50 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
Widener Collection
Tags
Painting Neoclassical & Romantic (1751–1850) Oil Painting Canvas British Color: Orange
Background & Context
Background Story
John Hoppner (1758-1810) was an English portrait painter known for his portraits of women and children in the fluent, Romantic manner that made him one of the most popular portrait painters of the late 18th century. The Hoppner Children from 1791 depicts the artist's own children in the fluent, affectionate manner that distinguishes his best child portraits from the more formal portraiture of his contemporaries. The 1791 date places this in Hoppner's most productive period, when he was producing the portraits of English society families that established him as Lawrence's principal rival in English portraiture.
Cultural Impact
The Hoppner Children is important in the history of English portraiture because it demonstrates the fluent, affectionate manner that distinguishes Hoppner's child portraits from the more formal portraiture of his contemporaries. The portrait of the artist's own children allows Hoppner to bring a personal warmth that his commissioned portraits sometimes lack, creating a type of child portraiture that is simultaneously elegant and affectionate.
Why It Matters
The Hoppner Children is Hoppner's fluent affection in child portraiture: the artist's own children rendered with the personal warmth and fluent manner that distinguish his best work. The 1791 portrait shows the affectionate side of English portraiture that the more formal style of Reynolds and Lawrence sometimes lacks.
