The artist's youngest son, John

George Richmond, RA 1809-1896

1861

Oil on canvas

41 x 34 inches

Provenance: With Colnaghi; Raymond Lister, the artist's biographer, and thence by descent

Source: Maas Gallery, London

As a young artist George Richmond was an acolyte of the aged William Blake, a member of that circle called The Ancients, but he also became a great portrait painter. John was seven years old in 1861, the date given to this informal painting by Lister, and, as was the custom for a boy his age, he is dressed in a unisex gown; however, the sash and the stick he is holding like a sword indicate he was playing at soldiers. After first studying medicine, John Richmond became an architect.

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