The Hartley Children, between 1781 and 1783

  • George Romney, English, 1734-1802

Oil on canvas

  • Unframed: 62 × 46 7/8 inches (157.5 × 119.1 cm)
  • 70 1/4 × 55 3/8 × 4 3/4 inches (178.4 × 140.7 × 12.1 cm)

Bequest of Edward F. Fisher

73.102

commissioned by Samuel Hartley (Lansdown Priory, near Bath, England)

by descent to Winchcombe Henry Eyre-Hartley [d. 1847] (Rome, Italy)

by descent to his daughter, Mrs. William Hunter Little [d. 1891] (Llanvair Grants, Monmouthshire, England)

by descent to her son, Colonel William Hunter Buller Little

by 1895, Arthur Sanderson (England)

Otto Kahn

(Lord Duveen, London, England)

by 1912, Lord Michelham, K.C.V.O.

November 23-24, 1926, Michelam sale (Hampton) lot 291

Colnaghi (London, England)

1928, (Howard Young Galleries, New York, New York, USA)

1929, purchased by Edward F. Fisher (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

1973-present, bequest to the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

Exhibition. Exh. cat., Guildhall. London, 1892, no. 122a. [as "Portraits of Three Children in a landscape," lent by Major J. H. Little] Fair Children. Exh. cat., Grafton Galleries. London, 1895, no. 141. [lent by Arthur Sanderson.] "An Account of Mr. Sanderson's Pictures." Art Journal (1897): p. 37. Romney. Exh. cat., Grafton Galleries. London, 1900, no. 53. [lent by Arthur Sanderson.] Ward, H. and W. Roberts. Romney. New York, 1904, vol. 1, p. 95 and vol. 2, p. 92. Lane, W. and N. Browne, eds. Portrait Index. Washington D.C., 1906, p. 879. Works of Art in the Collection of Lord Michelham. 1912, p. 6. Fifth Loan Exhibition of Old and Modern Masters. Exh. cat., Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 1927, pp. 37-38, cat. 68. [lent by Mr. & Mrs. Edward F. Fisher-entry by W. Heil.] "Notes of the Month." International Studio 93, no. 386 (July 1929): 55–61, pp. 60–61 (ill.). Valentiner, W.R., ed. Masterpieces of Art. Exh. cat., World's Fair. New York, 1939, no. 319, p. 156. Valentiner, William R. and Alfred M. Frankfurther. Masterpieces of Art: Exhibition at the New York World's Fair 1939, Official Souvenir Guide and Picture Book. Exh. cat., New York World's Fair. New York, 1939, p. 14, no. 110. Maclean-Eltham, Barry. George Romney Paintings in Public Collections, The Romney Society. Kendal, Cumbria, 1996, p. 40. [dated ca. 1780] Secrest, Meryle. Duveen: a life in art. New York, 2004, p. 485. Penny, Nicholas and Karen Serres. "Duveen's French frames for British Pictures." Burlington Magazine 151, no. 1275 (June 2009): 388–394, p. 388, note 3. [as "The Bowden Children"] Kidson, Alex. George Romney: A Complete Catalogue of His Paintings, vol. 1. New Haven, 2015, p. 287, no. 617 (ill.).

George Romney, The Hartley Children, between 1781 and 1783, oil on canvas. Detroit Institute of Arts, Bequest of Edward F. Fisher, 73.102.