The Schoolmistress (painting)
The Schoolmistress is the name of two paintings[1] from 1784 by the British artist John Opie. Both versions show the schoolmistress with five boys and a cat, are oil on canvas, approximately 40 inches by 50 inches, and were painted while Opie was living in London at No 63 Great Queen Street.[2]
One, originally titled A School but sometimes also known as The Schoolmistress, was exhibited at the Royal Academy (No 162) in 1784. This version, once owned by Lord Overstone, was sold in 1823 for George Watson-Taylor MP for 90 Guineas, and in 1875 was sold by Jesse Watts-Russell MP of Ilam Park in Staffordshire for 750 Guineas, said to be the highest price ever paid for an Opie picture at the time.[3] In 1785 it was engraved in mezzotint by Valentine Green, an indication of its popularity.[4]
Another version, also The Schoolmistress, was owned by the Earl of Stamford, George Harry Grey. It was exhibited at the Manchester Exhibition of Art Treasures in 1857 as No 133.[5] One or other of these versions was exhibited at the Grafton Gallery Exhibition of Fair Children in 1895, and the Guildhall Exhibition of French and English Painters of the Eighteenth Century in 1902.[6]
One version, lighter, with the cat shown on the right, was bought by a Dr Earl Wood in 1930 from art dealers Spink and Son, at a cost of $7,500. Wood took it back to the US. In 1969 it was stolen from the Wood residence in Newark, New Jersey, likely by members of the mafia.[7] It was recovered in 2024 in St. George, Utah.[8][9]
The other version - darker, with the cat on the left - was for many years part of the Loyd Collection of paintings and drawings at Lockinge near Wantage, Berkshire. Accepted in lieu of Inheritance Tax by HM Government, it was allocated to Tate Britain in 2020.[4][10]
External links
[edit]A School, 1784, John Opie at Tate Britain
References
[edit]- ^ William L Brown Illustration
- ^ Peter Gibson. The Capital Companion (1985), p. 174
- ^ George Redford. Art Sales: A History of Sales of Pictures and Other Works of Art (1888), p. 215
- ^ a b A School 1784, John Opie, at Tate Britain
- ^ John Jope Rogers. Opie and His Works, Being a Catalogue of 760 Paintings by John Opie (1878), pp. 223-224
- ^ Ada Earling. John Opie and His Circle (1910), p. 54
- ^ María Luisa Paúl. 'A painting’s journey through the criminal underworld ends 54 years later', Washington Post, 29 January 2024.
- ^ "Painting stolen by N.J. mobsters in 1969 ended up in St. George. The FBI just returned it to its rightful owner". The Salt Lake Tribune.
- ^ Bruce, Becky (January 26, 2024). ""Priceless" painting stolen by mob turns up in St. George". KSLNewsRadio.
- ^ Tate Gallery Annual Accounts 2021-2022, p. 10.