A wonderfully compelling family portrait, painted in 1939.
Five children, four boys and a girl, have been gathered together for a portrait sitting. They appear very likely to be siblings, although their identities have been lost.
There is something wonderfully serious about them. Nobody has been coaxed into smiling and there is none of the sweetness or sentimentality so often found in paintings of children from this period. Instead, the painter has concentrated on their individual characters. Five different faces and expressions, brought tightly together into one remarkably strong composition.
I particularly love the restrained palette. Sage green, grey, tobacco brown, cream and black give the painting an unmistakably late-1930s feel. The faces are carefully observed, while the clothes and background are handled much more broadly and economically. It gives what is essentially a traditional family portrait a distinctly modern quality.
The painting is signed indistinctly, apparently “Baily”, and dated ’39. It was acquired in Belgium.
I have researched a number of French and Belgian artists named Baily who were working during this period, but haven't found sufficient evidence to confidently identify the painter. Rather than make an attribution fit, I have left the artist open.
Whoever Baily was, they were a very capable portrait painter.
Signed lower right.
Oil on canvas.
Max Width - 81cm / 32”
Max Height - 60.5cm / 23.75”
Good vintage condition with age-related surface wear and minor losses, particularly around the outer edges.
