The Highland Family
Wilkie, a genre painter, served as a court artist under George IV and his successors. This painting, commissioned by the Earl of Essex in 1824, was exhibited by Wilkie at the Royal Academy in 1825. The scene’s rustic detail, as in the vignette of collie dogs lolling next to the open hearth, and its patriotic sentiment, which stems from the novels of Sir Walter Scott, explain the contemporary opinion that this work was not a costume piece but a "portrait painted from life."
Artwork Details
- Title: The Highland Family
- Artist: Sir David Wilkie (British, Cults, Scotland 1785–1841 off Gibraltar)
- Date: 1824
- Medium: Oil on wood
- Dimensions: 24 x 36 in. (61 x 91.4 cm)
- Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Bequest of Maria DeWitt Jesup, from the collection of her husband, Morris K. Jesup, 1914
- Object Number: 15.30.52
- Curatorial Department: European Paintings
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Sir David Wilkie
1824
Sir David Wilkie
ca. 1815
Sir David Wilkie
before 1841
Multiple artists/makers
1823
Sir David Wilkie
Frederick Bacon
1838
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