William Mulready, 1786–1863, Irish, Drawing for The First Voyage, ca. 1833
- Title:
Drawing for The First Voyage
- Date:
- ca. 1833
- Medium:
- Red chalk, white chalk, white gouache, and graphite on moderately thick, slightly textured, beige wove paper
- Dimensions:
- Sheet: 19 1/8 x 23 5/8 inches (48.6 x 60 cm) and Frame: 26 5/8 x 31 1/2 inches (67.6 x 80 cm)
- Credit Line:
- Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Fund
- Copyright Status:
- Public Domain
- Accession Number:
- B2009.20
- Classification:
- Drawings & Watercolors
- Collection:
- Prints and Drawings
- Subject Terms:
- baby | children | family | floating | genre subject | leisure | river
- Access:
- View by request in the Study Room [Request]
Note: The Study Room is open to Yale ID holders by appointment. Please visit the Study Room page on our website for more details. - Link:
- https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:61968
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The great early-Victorian genre painter William Mulready frequently made elaborate full-size chalk studies, which he called cartoons, for his paintings. These were prized as works of art in their own right. This “cartoon” was exhibited to acclaim at the Royal Academy in 1849, long after the oil painting (Bury Art Gallery) for which it had provided the model was shown at the Royal Academy (1833). An apprehensive child is launched on a stream in a washtub supported by older members of his family. Perhaps this is the first voyage of a future sailor or even an admiral of the fleet. Typically for Mulready, the humor of the subject is balanced with the classical gravitas with which the artist has treated the figures. Gallery label for A Decade of Gifts and Acquisitions (Yale Center for British Art, 2017-06-01 - 2017-08-13)
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