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SOUTHEND MUSEUMS SERVICE
The Harris Family (detail), oil on canvas by British (English) School, photo credit: Southend Museums Service
This interesting group portrait acts as a glimpse into middle-class family life in the 1830s. Members of the family are depicted in a well-appointed room with a floral carpet taking part in activities such as playing music, reading and sketching. The depiction of these activities illustrates to the viewer the social status of the family, suggesting they are well educated. Particularly interesting, is the painting above the fireplace that seems to show the very picture we are looking at in place, again reinforcing the notion that this family has purposely constructed the scene. The pale wall colour and the rather washed out clothing and skin tone of the sitters, ensure the focus of this scene is the figurative set up rather than the individual characteristics of each sitter. This painting is a beautiful yet bizarre one, in which staging and construction of image is most evident.
Available now for just £40 plus postage.
The Southend Museums Service comprises five historical sites in the heart of Southend-on-Sea: Central Museum, Beecroft Art Gallery, Southchurch Hall, Southend Planetarium and Prittlewell Priory. Beecroft Art Gallery has over two thousand works in its permanent collection. This includes seventeenth-century Dutch paintings, contemporary works, and pieces by nineteenth-century artists such as Rossetti, Constable and Edward Lear.
Print or framed artworks from the Southend Museums Service.
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Photo credit: Southend Museums Service
A Breezy Day, Mouth of the Thames
Thornbery, William Anslow, 1847–1907
A Distant View of Rome
Hering, George Edwards, 1805–1879
A Quiet Backwater
Trouillebert, Paul Désiré, 1829–1900
A Wayside Shrine
French School
A Winter Scene at Night
Rombouts, Salomon, c.1652–c.1702
Abraham Offin (b.1830)?
unknown artist
Afternoon, Hadleigh
Shalders, George, c.1826–1873
Alderman Dowsett, First Mayor of Southend (1892–1893)
At Leigh, Essex
de Breanski, Gustave, 1859–1899
At Southend
Tucker, Raymond, c.1830–1908
Beggar Boys Playing Dice
Murillo, Bartolomé Esteban, 1617–1682
Breakfast Still Life
Heda, Gerrit Willemsz., c.1620–before 1702
Bridge at Little Stambridge
Bridge over a River
Yon, Edmond Charles, 1836–1897
By the River
Smith, George, 1714–1776
Capriccio
Ghisolfi, Giovanni, c.1623–1683
Cathedral Interior
Neeffs the younger, Peeter, 1620–1675
Catherine Elizabeth Offin
Cattle at Bourne End
Fisher, Mark, 1841–1923
Cattle by the River
Cattle in a Landscape
Cattle Resting in Marshland
Charles Wertheim
Orpen, William, 1878–1931
Charles Woosnam, JP, Chairman of the Southend Gas Company
Grant, Henry, active 1868–1916
Browse and buy products inspired by this collection.
Harris Family
From £40.00
Essex
£15.00
