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Sir Henry Raeburn (artist) Scottish, 1756 - 1823 The Binning Children, probably c. 1811 oil on canvas Overall: 128.8 x 102.7 cm (50 11/16 x 40 7/16 in.) framed: 154.3 x 128.9 cm (60 3/4 x 50 3/4 in.) Given in memory of John Woodruff Simpson 1942.5.2 |
Object 8 of 12
David Monro Binning from Perthshire, Scotland, commissioned this double portrait of his sons. The boys wear identical suits with fur-trimmed hats. Their flared white collars and pale auburn hair draw attention to their faces, which are aligned on a diagonal axis cutting across the composition. George, the elder brother, is presumably the one who holds a riding crop; the younger brother's name is not recorded. The autumnal russets and golds and the sketchy brushwork in the sky and foliage superbly characterize Henry Raeburn’s style. The smooth modeling of the flesh and clothes, though, is a late influence from Thomas Lawrence.
Raeburn apprenticed at sixteen to a goldsmith, soon taking up painting miniature likenesses as an extension of the jeweler’s art. After some training in London and Italy, he quickly rose as Scotland’s foremost painter, joining the landed gentry in Edinburgh. The handsome Raeburn was a prolific portraitist as well as an avid sportsman—golfer, archer, hunter, and angler.
Although Raeburn shipped pictures to London for exhibition at the Royal Academy, his election to life membership was delayed until 1815, when an opening occurred upon the demise of a full academician. Only a year before his own death, Raeburn finally was knighted during King George IV’s visit to Scotland.
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