Dimensions: support: 997 x 762 mm frame: 1315 x 1082 x 132 mm
Copyright: CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED, Photo: Tate
Curator: Here we have Thomas Phillips' portrait of Sir David Wilkie, R.A., from the Tate Collections. Editor: It’s quite somber, isn't it? The dark palette and tight framing create a feeling of restraint. Curator: Precisely, notice how the artist uses chiaroscuro to model Wilkie's face, drawing our attention to his composed expression. The paper he holds suggests intellectual engagement, further reinforcing this sense of serious artistry. Editor: But also of production, I think. The materials used by Phillips and those implied as being held by Wilkie speak to artistic labor during this era. The scale of the painting too suggests a certain investment in the subject. Curator: An insightful connection between the materiality of art and the sitter's profession! Editor: Indeed. It’s the subtle details, not the grand gestures, that speak volumes about the realities of artistic creation in that time.
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http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/phillips-sir-david-wilkie-ra-n00183
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David Wilkie was born in Scotland into a poor family, but became one of the great artistic success-stories of the early nineteenth century. He achieved virtually overnight success in London in the 1800s with sentimental, narrative paintings of rural life in his homeland. By the time Phillips painted this portrait, Wilkie had spent several years touring Europe, and had turned to literary and historical subjects of a more conventional character. The abstracted, gloomy setting, and the painter’s glancing expression suggest an inspired, poetic personality. Gallery label, September 2004
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