Lot 138: Henry Lejeune, A.R.A. , 1820-1904 exhausted oil on canvas laid on card

oil on canvas laid on card

measurements note 17 by 22 cm.; 6 ¾ by 8 ¾ in.

Mrs Robert Frank, where bought by Sir David Scott for £40

This picture of a tired child appears to depict the same young sitter that appears in a painting entitled After Drill in which a boy has fallen asleep on a cushion and a leopard skin with his arm draped across a toy cannon. The British artist Henry Le Jeune made a speciality of painting pictures depicting children with titles including Little Bo-Peep and Tickled with a Straw. He exhibited at the Royal Academy and at the British Institution from the 1840s when he painted a number of biblical and historical subjects, but soon abandoned this in favour of a more commercial career in painting genre subjects. The present painting is a particularly beautiful and tender example of his work. In 1845 he became a drawing master at the Royal Academy and in 1848 he was elevated to the position of Curator. He became an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1863. Lejeune's work can now be seen in many museums and collections, including the Manchester City and Salford Art Galleries.