Romance - Cecile Walton, 1891 - 1956 (With her children Edward and Gavril)
About this artwork
The title of the painting is ironic. Walton depicts herself holding up her new-born son, Edward, for intense scrutiny, whilst her elder boy, Gavril, clutches his golly doll. Although the toy is now acknowledged as a racist caricature, they were commonplace in British childhoods until the 1960s. The image of mother and baby is usually associated with Madonna and Child but this picture, which deliberately echoes a well-known impressionist image of a sex worker – Olympia by Edouard Manet, suggests a more uneasy attitude to motherhood. The carefully placed details - petals on the floor, the apple - add to the sense of unease.
Updated before 2020
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artist:Cecile Walton (1891 - 1956) Scottish
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title:Romance - Cecile Walton, 1891 - 1956 (With her children Edward and Gavril)
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date created:1920
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materials:Oil on canvas
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measurements:100.60 x 150.90 cm; Framed: 109.40 x 160.20 x 7.62 cm
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object type:
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credit line:Given anonymously 1995
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accession number:PG 2995
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gallery:
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depicted:
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subject:
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artwork photographed by:Antonia Reeve
Cecile Walton
Cecile Walton
From an artistic family, Cecile Walton was the daughter of Glasgow Boys artist Edward Arthur Walton. She studied in London, Edinburgh, Paris and Florence and became a member of the Edinburgh Group, practising in the capital as a painter, sculptor and illustrator. Influenced by the Symbolist style...