Oil paint on canvas
Tate Collection
Works with images
General Collection
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/george-romney-457" aria-label="More by George Romney" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">George Romney</a>
Beaumont Family
Purchased 1919
actions: expressive
actions: postures and motions
adults
Beaumont family
birth to death
clothing and personal items
dress
family
family
fine arts and music
globe
groups
man
memorial
named families
objects
painting
people
pointing
portraits
scientific and measuring
sitting
society
standing
woman
<p>This ambitious portrait depicts various family members gathered around a painted portrait, possibly a recently deceased brother or a member of the present family group. Here, Romney celebrates the kinship of family life, while acknowledging, through the group’s focus on the portrait upon the table, the vital role of the artist in articulating the sensibility which underlies the familial relationship. This type of intimate family portrait or ‘conversation piece’ had been common in British art for several decades, although in the past it had been painted on a much smaller scale. However, Romney uses the life-size format more usually reserved for official, public portraiture.</p><p><em>Gallery label, May 2007</em></p>
painting oil paint canvas
26 January 2007 – 30 September 2007
2007-09-30
26 January 2007
2007-01-26
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2007-01-26
Family Values
Collection based display
The Beaumont Family
support: 2045 × 2718 mm
frame: 2300 × 2970 mm
Purchased 1919
<p>This ambitious portrait depicts various family members gathered around a painted portrait, possibly a recently deceased brother or a member of the present family group. Here, Romney celebrates the kinship of family life, while acknowledging, through the group’s focus on the portrait upon the table, the vital role of the artist in articulating the sensibility which underlies the familial relationship. This type of intimate family portrait or ‘conversation piece’ had been common in British art for several decades, although in the past it had been painted on a much smaller scale. However, Romney uses the life-size format more usually reserved for official, public portraiture.</p>

Display caption
2007-05-02T00:00:00
display-caption
DISPLAY_CAPTION
<p>The support is a linen canvas with a distinctive twill weave pattern. It is made up of two pieces joined horizontally, approximately one metre from the bottom edge. It has been lined onto a linen lining canvas with a glue-compo adhesive sometime during the nineteenth century. An off-white ground of an average thickness retaining the texture of the canvas is visible.</p><p>The oil paint of the design layers have suffered extensive drying shrinkage in the upper layers, which range from narrow to wide and very wide drying cracks and alligatoring with islands of paint. The different colours of the layers below revealed by this shrinkage have been minimised by retouching. There are a considerable number of small ground and paint losses around the edges of the painting and over the horizontal join in the canvas that have been restored.</p><p>There are several resin varnish layers applied as a replacement in 1999. The Frame is a temporary one until a more appropriate one can be made. </p><p>Christopher Holden<br/>August 1999<br/></p>
Technique and condition
2001-09-05T00:00:00
technique-and-condition
TECHNIQUE_AND_CONDITION_TEXT
actions: expressive actions: postures and motions adults Beaumont family birth to death clothing and personal items dress family family fine arts and music globe groups man memorial named families objects painting people pointing portraits scientific and measuring sitting society standing woman