Oil paint on canvas
Tate Britain
Tate Collection
Works with images
Works on display
General Collection
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/sir-david-wilkie-600" aria-label="More by Sir David Wilkie" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Sir David Wilkie</a>
Village Holiday
Purchased 1824
adults
animals: mammals
architecture
balcony
child
children
diseases and conditions
dog - non-specific
drinking
drunkenness
eating and drinking
emotions and human qualities
emotions, concepts and ideas
fair
features
group
groups
happiness
house
humour
leisure and pastimes
man
music and entertainment
people
places of entertainment
public house / bar
residential
square
townscapes / man-made features
universal concepts
village
woman
<p>David Wilkie was famed for his paintings of everyday life. Here, Wilkie shows people socialising and drinking at the local pub. One man is torn between staying to drink with his friends or going home with his family. This dilemma updates the classical theme of choosing between vice and virtue – the man slumped in the corner on the right acts as a stark warning. His inclusion of this reference was likely an attempt to claim a higher status for such ‘lowly’ scenes. The painting was the centrepiece of his 1812 solo exhibition. It was accompanied by lines from a popular ‘temperance’ poem (advocating sobriety), further reinforcing the painting’s moral message.</p><p><em>Gallery label, February 2024</em></p>
painting oil paint canvas
18 September 2002 – 1 December 2002
2002-12-01
18 September 2002 – 1 December 2002
2002-12-01
2002-09-18
Dulwich Picture Gallery (London, UK)
2002-09-18
David Wilkie, Genre Painting
Loan-out
6 February 2003 – 4 January 2004
2004-01-04
6 February 2003 – 11 May 2003
2003-05-11
2003-02-06
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
8 June 2003 – 7 September 2003
2003-09-07
2003-06-08
Minneapolis Institute of Art (Minneapolis, USA)
2003-02-06
Constable to Delacroix: British Art and the French Romantics 1820 - 1840
Exhibition
29 July 2010 – 14 March 2011
2011-03-14
6 August 2010 – 14 March 2011
2011-03-14
2010-08-06
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2010-07-29
Romantics 2
Collection based display
2 September 2011 – 15 April 2012
2012-04-15
2 September 2011 – 15 April 2012
2012-04-15
2011-09-02
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2011-09-02
Romantics
Collection based display
21 November 2012 – 24 July 2022
2022-07-24
17 November 2012
2012-11-17
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2012-11-21
Gallery 10
Collection based display
16 November 2015 – 13 November 2016
2016-11-13
16 November 2015 – 13 November 2016
2016-11-13
2015-11-16
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2015-11-16
Art and Alcohol
Collection based display
26 September 2022
26 September 2022
2022-09-26
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2022-09-26
Gallery 15
Collection based display
1 May 2025 – 1 May 2026
2026-05-01
1 May 2025 – 1 May 2026
2026-05-01
2025-05-01
National Gallery (London, UK)
http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk
2025-05-01
National Gallery Bicentenary
Loan-out
The Village Holiday
support: 940 × 1276 mm
frame: 1250 × 1578 × 140 mm
Purchased 1824
<div class="text">
<p>David Wilkie was famed for his paintings of everyday life. Here, Wilkie shows people socialising and drinking at the local pub. One man is torn between staying to drink with his friends or going home with his family. This dilemma updates the classical theme of choosing between vice and virtue – the man slumped in the corner on the right acts as a stark warning. His inclusion of this reference was likely an attempt to claim a higher status for such ‘lowly’ scenes. The painting was the centrepiece of his 1812 solo exhibition. It was accompanied by lines from a popular ‘temperance’ poem (advocating sobriety), further reinforcing the painting’s moral message. </p>
</div>

Display caption
2024-02-27T00:00:00
display-caption
DISPLAY_CAPTION
adults animals: mammals architecture balcony child children diseases and conditions dog - non-specific drinking drunkenness eating and drinking emotions and human qualities emotions, concepts and ideas fair features group groups happiness house humour leisure and pastimes man music and entertainment people places of entertainment public house / bar residential square townscapes / man-made features universal concepts village woman