The Age of Innocence

Features

Framed

Size

Large (up to 60in.)

Color

Multicolor

- Provenance: unsigned artwork after original by Sir Joshua Reynolds c. 1788… currently at the Tate Britain. A favorite of the public, and according to art historian and curator Martin Postle: “the commercial face of childhood”. It was reproduced countless times in prints and ephemera of different kinds. No fewer than 323 full-scale replicas in oil were made by students and professional copyists between 1856 and 1893, of which this is likely an extremely competent example. This piece was purchased from an antique store in Savage, Maryland on Sept. 16, 2025 and from the label on the reverse it can be inferred that it was sold by the Ben Kabatznick Inc. gallery on Beacon Street in Brookline, Massachusetts in the mid to late 1920s. - Media: oil on canvas - Artwork Dimensions: 25 1/4”h x 30"v - Frame Dimensions: 34"h x 39"v - Condition: fair, needs a thorough cleaning, re-stretching and repair to two minor holes, but the quality of the canvas and the artwork is in solid shape for its age. The sitter is unknown, but a possible candidate is Reynold’s own great-niece, Theophila Gwatkin, This work is so simple, yet captivating due to the gestural quality of the subject’s pose the way her little hands are tenderly clasped at her breast, and her far off gaze drawn to the side offering the viewer her diminutive profile. Her hair and her garment are so skillfully rendered in a whispy and flowing manner, which sets the figure apart from the flatness of the obscure background. She seems alone, barefoot, with only her loose-fitting garment sliding from her shoulder to protect her. She is the raw simplicity of innocence itself, set suddenly within an uncertain plane of consciousness.

Style

Realism

Medium

Oil