77/1979

Collection

Paintings, Prints and Drawings

Brief description

Painting, oil on canvas, 'Changing Homes', by George Elgar Hicks, signed and dated 1862, in a gilded picture frame.

Title

Changing Homes

Object name

painting
oil painting

Object number

77/1979

Production person

George Elgar Hicks (artist)

Production date

1862 (painted)

Production place

England (painted)

Period

Victorian (1837-1901)

Material

oil paint
canvas

Technique

painted

Physical description

Oil in canvas painting in a gilded picture frame.

Content description

This painting depicts a wedding party in a drawing room. The couple are in the centre, the bride wearing a white dress. A gilt chair, upholstered in red silk with a gold silk throw, is also depicted in the centre foreground. The rest of the party are dispersed throughout the room, which has high ceilings, and is decorated with panels. The room is divided into two, with a pair of open green curtains and a chandelier in each part of the room. To the left, an open door leads to the garden, and to the right there is a table laden with food.

Dimensions

Height: 105cm
Width: 165cm
Height: 89cm
Width: 150cm

Website keywords

serving food
ceiling treatments
doors
floor treatments
furniture
seating
tables
ornaments
textiles
wall treatments
window treatments
images of rooms
pets
candle and rush lighting

Label

Label text for the digital interactive located in the Reading Room (September 2015- June 2017):

‘Changing Homes’
By George Elgar Hicks
Oil on canvas, dated 1862

‘Intensely vulgar’- Hicks has ‘gone to wreck on the shoals of prettiness’ was part of The Times’ scathing review of this painting in 1863. However, Hicks’ returning wedding party is not simply a sentimental scene. Each of his 27 figures has their own story, from the coy newlyweds in the centre watched by an anxious widow, to the young bridesmaid on the right who loses her bouquet whilst trying to save a falling vase. Both the widow and the falling vase convey a sense of foreboding and the difficulties that may lie ahead of the newly married couple.

Label text, Geffrye Museum, date unknown:
Changing Homes. George Elgar Hicks, 1862. Oil on canvas.

Rights note

Painting is out of copyright.
The photograph is in copyright to the Museum of the Home