Study for Proclaiming the King
Date: 1901
Dimensions: Height: 50.8 cm (20 in.), Width: 68.58 cm (27 in.)
Medium: Painting – oil on canvas
Owner/Location: Francis Davis Millet Study for Proclaiming the King, 1901 Oil on canvas Chazen Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin–Madison Wisconsin, Gift of D. Frederick Baker from the Baker/Pisano Collection, 2017.27.54
Description
The unsigned study for “Proclaiming the King” shows Millet’s more mature mastery of subtle shading in the face of the baby and the contract of the lace bonnet. He allows the viewer to completely focus on the baby as the king, while giving the viewer a shock of detail in the sharp rendering of the young girls hat, who is holding the king. The subtext of the work is highlighted by the very faintly painted flowers that surround the two people from the lower right up and over their heads.
The girls featured in the image are likely Margaret Minnie Folkes Born 27th October 1890 and Ida Eleanor Folkes Born January 1st 1901, children of Millet’s neighbors James and Alice Folkes at Broadway, England. The Millet’s owned Russell House, in Broadway, where Frank kept a studio.
The canvas is lined, with very minor restoration and inpainting.
Exhibitions / Provenance
Exhibitions:
2018, Tile Club, The: Camaraderie and American Plein-Air Painting: Chazen Museum of Art, 2/23/2018–11/4/2018
1902, Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts, The (1902): The Royal Academy of Arts, London was the full size painting and not the Study.
Provenance:
Francis Davis Millet Study for Proclaiming the King, 1901 Oil on canvas Chazen Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin–Madison Wisconsin, Gift of D. Frederick Baker from the Baker/Pisano Collection, 2017.27.54
Unknown date, likely given by the artist to James and Alice Folkes; unknown date, by gift or descent to their daughter Margaret Minnie Folkes; ca. 1991, inherited by her daughter Sheila Watts; 23 November 1995, sold by at Sotheby’s (London, England) [lot #314]; Alexander Gallery (New York, NY); 1996, acquired by an unknown American private collector; 29 October 2015, sold by Shannon’s Fine Art Auctioneers (Milford, CT) [sale #1015, lot #257] to D. Frederick Baker (New York, NY); 2017, gifted by D. Frederick Baker from the Baker/Pisano Collection (New York, NY) to the Chazen Museum of Art. It had a presale estimate of appx. $2,500 and sold for $5,100 plus buyers premium.
Research / Publications
Research:
Publications:
The study for “Proclaiming the King” is used by the Chazen Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin, 750 University Avenue, Madison, WI to illustrate their publication about the Tile Club, for an exhibition they held about the club, which was an early plein air painters club to which Millet belonged with a number of other well known 19th Century painters, all of whom were close friend of Millet. Millet’s nickname in the club was “The Bulgarian” because he was a well known war correspondent during the Turkish-Russian war.
“The Tile Club was one of many societies that formed across the United States during the late nineteenth century. Including such well-known artists as Winslow Homer, William Merritt Chase, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Edwin Austin Abbey, J. Alden Weir, and John H. Twachtman, the club was founded in 1877 riding a wave of interest in the decorative arts. Members met once a week and would each contribute to the “decorative age” by painting an eight-by-eight-inch ceramic tile. These meetings became a time to socialize, dine, and enjoy the music performed by guests and honorary members.
Tiles formed only a small part of the Club’s output. Members made excursions to Long Island and up the Hudson River to sketch and paint. These trips were lively journeys, and the works completed during them document the first plein-air painting organization in the young nation. Tiles, paintings, sculptures, and sketches—many by distinguished artists working early in their careers—are showcased in this exhibition.” -Chazen Museum
2018, Chazen Museum of Art. “The Tile Club: Camaraderie and American Plein-Air Painting.” [digital exh. cat.] Madison: Chazen Museum of Art, 2018. p. 83
1902, Royal Academy of Arts. “The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts.” London: William Clowes and Sons, Ltd., 1902. p. 65, no. 468