The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 24, 2024

Street Singer and Child

Street Singer and Child

1700s
(British, 1761–1807)
England, 18th century
oil on canvas
Framed: 100 x 87.5 x 11 cm (39 3/8 x 34 7/16 x 4 5/16 in.); Unframed: 76.5 x 64.3 cm (30 1/8 x 25 5/16 in.)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Wade 1916.1030
Location: not on view

Description

John Opie's working-class roots made him sympathetic to the plight of the laborer. This painting demonstrates his interest in an honest portrayal of British street life, a sympathy rarely seen in the work of other British artists of his generation, who often presented lower classes more coldly. Much of Britain's population at this time was poor, but beggars and street vendors had a particularly low status. Street singers were often sellers of goods. By focusing the composition tightly on the woman and not including any wares, Opie makes the viewer recognize her humanity; moreover, he emphasizes the connection between mother and child. The singer is working to feed her baby, evoking sympathy from the viewer.
  • Reverend Thomas Collyer of Gislingham, near Eye, Suffolk (sale: Christie's, London, July 26,1890, no. 181, to Smith);
    Lord Bateman, Kelmarsh Hall, Northamptonshire (sale: Christie's, London, April 11, 1896, no. 115); [Blakeslee Galleries, New York];
    R. Hall McCormick, Chicago;
    [Blakeslee Galleries, New York, 1900];
    Mr. and Mrs. Jeptha H. Wade, Cleveland. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J.H. Wade, 1916.
  • The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Catalogue of Paintings, Part 3: European Paintings of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1982. Reproduced: p. 207; Mentioned: p. 206
    "The Wade Collection." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 4, no. 1 (1917): 3-12. Mentioned: p. 3 www.jstor.org
  • The New Child: British Art and the Origins of Modern Childhood 1730-1830. Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (organizer) (August 23-November 19, 1995); Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis, TN (December 10, 1995-February 4, 1996); Joslyn Art Museum (March 9-May 5, 1996).
    Pittsburgh, Carnegie Institute, 1898: "Collection of Pictures Principally of the English School Loaned to the Carnegie Institute by R. Hall McCormick, Esq., Chicago, cat. no. 36, p. 25.
    The Silver Jubilee Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-September 28, 1941).
    William Rockhill Nelson Gallery, Kansas City, Missouri, 1937: Survey of English Painting (no catalogue)
    Cleveland (1913), "Cleveland Art Loan Exhibition," Held in the Kinney & Levan Building, cat. no. 133b.
  • {{cite web|title=Street Singer and Child|url=false|author=John Opie|year=1700s|access-date=24 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1916.1030