Study of the artist's son, John

May 1835

Not on view

Linnell’s intimate sketch captures his twelve-year old son John supporting a large book and dressed in either a student's coat or country smock. The artist’s household at Bayswater, which then lay outside greater London, grew vegetables and kept bees, and those rural pursuits are perhaps referenced by the sitter’s garb, while the twisted pose centered around a large book echoes Michelangelo’s famous Prophets and Sibyls in the Sistine Chapel. Linnell had nine children when he made this drawing in 1835 and worked as a professional portraitist to ensure a reliable source of income, while also producing visionary landscapes.

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Title: Study of the artist's son, John
Artist: John Linnell (British, London 1792–1882 Redhill, Surrey)
Date: May 1835
Medium: Black and white chalk on light brown paper
Dimensions: Sheet: 16 7/8 × 11 1/4 in. (42.8 × 28.5 cm)
Classification: Drawings
Credit Line: Gift of Dita Amory, 2022
Object Number: 2022.416
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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Portrait of a mother and child, John Linnell British, Graphite with watercolor and gouache (bodycolor) — Portrait of a mother and child
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View of Kensington Gardens, London, John Linnell British, Watercolor over graphite — View of Kensington Gardens, London
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Underriver–The Golden Valley, John Linnell British, Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, over graphite — Underriver–The Golden Valley
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The Lake of Zug, Joseph Mallord William Turner British, Watercolor and bodycolor (gouache) with reductive techniques over graphite — The Lake of Zug
Joseph Mallord William Turner
1843

The Entombment, Sir Edward Burne-Jones British, Green, blue, brown and touches of reddish bodycolor, heightened with white gouache (bodycolor) on green paper — The Entombment
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