Two Boys Blowing Bubbles Explained

Two Boys Blowing Bubbles
Artist:Michaelina Wautier
Year:1640s
Medium:Oil on canvas
Height Metric:90.5
Width Metric:121.3
Metric Unit:cm
Imperial Unit:in

Two Boys Blowing Bubbles is a painting by the seventeenth-century Walloon artist Michaelina Wautier. It has been suggested that the painting is a double portrait, given the specific facial expressions and costumes of the two boys depicted are so distinctive.[1] Besides the two boys, the painting depicts a candle and a sandtimer. As with the bubble, both are symbolic of the passing of time, and were familiar motifs in seventeenth-century painting.[2]

The painting was previously attributed to Jacob van Oost. However, research done in 2007 led to the re-attribution to Wautier.[3]

The painting hangs in the Seattle Art Museum who purchased it in 1958.[4] A second version by Wautier is in a private collection in Spain. A third painting, executed in the eighteenth century and copying just the boy on the right, is in the Collection des Musee d'Amiens, France.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: Katlijne van der Stighelen . Michaelina Wautier 1604–1689: Glorifying a Forgotten Talent . Gerlinde Gruber . . Jahel Sanzsalazar . Francesca Del Torre Scheuch . Ben van Beneden . Martine Van Elk . 2018 . BAI Publishers . 9789085867630 . Kontich, Antwerp, Belgium . print book . 1031438767 . Katlijne Van der Stighelen . Ben van Beneden . amp . WorldCat.
  2. Web site: Michaelina, Baroque's Leading Lady. 20/21. 20 August 2018.
  3. Web site: Object of the Week: Boys Blowing Bubbles SAM Blog. samblog.seattleartmuseum.org. August 3, 2018. en-US. 2018-08-20.
  4. Web site: Boys Blowing Bubbles – Works – eMuseum. art.seattleartmuseum.org. en. 2018-08-20.