Elijah and the Widow's Son
1864
Accession number: 1912P23
Oil on panel.
Width: 343 mm
Height: 525 mm
Information
In 1863 Brown was commissioned by the Brothers Dalziel to produce three illustrations for a Bible to which many other famous artists of the day were also contributing. This story of a mother whose son is raised from the dead by the prophet Elijah was one of the subjects selected by Brown from a list of possible themes submitted to him by the Brothers.Having designed the illustration 'Elijah and the Widow's Son' Brown worked up the composition into three paintings. The dealer Gambart bought a small watercolour version, which he later sold to Frederick Leyland (present owner unknown). Frederick Craven of Manchester, a watercolour collector, commissioned a larger version in 1868 (V&A). The painting in the Birmingham collection is the only one in oil and was commissioned in 1864 by a Brighton wine merchant, James Trist, for 100gns. Trist was so pleased with it that he later sent Brown a case of wine. LM
- Presented by Sir John T Middlemore, Bt., 1912.
- © Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery
Makers
| Association | Artist | Organisation |
|---|---|---|
| Artist | Ford Madox Brown | - |
Inscriptions
| Type | Position(s) | Method | Date(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FMB/64 | ||||
| Monogram | middle right | Painted | - | |
Exhibitions
| Catalogue No. | Venue | Date(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Exhibition of Work, and Other Paintings by Ford Madox Brown | |||
| 33 | 191, Piccadilly, London | 1865 - 1865 | |
| Exhibition of the Works of Ford Madox Brown | |||
| 15 (?) | Grafton Galleries, London | 1897 - 1897 | |
| - | |||
| - | Brussels | 1897 - 1897 | |
| - | Baden-Baden | 1973 - 1973 | |
| - | Frankfurt | 1973 - 1974 | |
| Pictures from Birmingham by British Artists | |||
| 39 | National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth | 1956 - 1956 | |
| Pre-Raphaelite Art | |||
| 8 | National Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide | 1962-03 - 1962-03 | |
| 8 | Western Australian Art Gallery, Perth | 1962-04 - 1962-05 | |
| 8 | The Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart | 1962-06 - 1962-07 | |
| 8 | National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne | 1962-07 - 1962-08 | |
| 8 | Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane | 1962-08 - 1962-09 | |
| 8 | Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney | 1962-10 - 1962-10 | |
| The Bible in Art | |||
| 38 | Russell-Cotes Art Gallery, Bournemouth | 1963 - 1963 | |
| - | |||
| - | Brussels | 1897 - 1897 | |
| - | Baden-Baden | 1973 - 1973 | |
| - | Frankfurt | 1973 - 1974 | |
| The Pre-Raphaelites | |||
| 127 | Tate, London | 1984 - 1984 | |
| Visions of Love and Life | |||
| 75 | Seattle Art Museum | 1995-03-09 - 1995-05-07 | |
| 75 | Cleveland Museum of Art | 1995-05-27 - 1995-07-16 | |
| 75 | Delaware Art Museum | 1995-08-11 - 1995-10-15 | |
| 75 | The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas | 1995-11-04 - 1996-01-02 | |
| 75 | High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia | 1996-01-23 - 1996-04-10 | |
| 75 | Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery | 1996-05-26 - 1996-09-29 | |
| Ford Madox Brown: The Unofficial Pre-Raphaelite | |||
| 42 | Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery | 2008-08-27 - 2008-12-14 | |
Literature
| Author(s) | Date(s) | Publisher | Pages |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Exhibition of Work, and Other Paintings by Ford Madox Brown | |||
| Ford Madox Brown | 1865 | Privately published by the artist | p. 15 |
| Ford Madox Brown: a record of his life and works | |||
| Hueffer | 1896 | Longmans, Green and Co. | p. 202 |
| Pre-Raphaelite ArtPre-Raphaelite Art | |||
| 1962 | State Art Galleries of Australia | p. 11 | |
| Visions of Love and Life | |||
| Stephen Wildman | 1995 | Art Services Intenrational | p. 236, ill. p. 234 |
| The Pre-Raphaelites | |||
| Leslie Parris | 1984 | Tate | pp. 203-204, repr. p. 204 |
| Exhibition of Works by Ford Madox Brown | |||
| 1897 | - | p. 10 | |
| Ford Madox Brown: The Unofficial Pre-Raphaelite | |||
| Laura MacCulloch, Tessa Sidey | 2008 | D. Giles Limited, London | p. 59; rep. p. 41 |
Provenance
| James Trist bought the painting from the artist for 100gns. It was then purchased by J. Bibby, 1899; L. W. Hodson (sold Christie's 25 June 1906 (142); Sir J. T. Middlemore, Bt. |
Related work & resources
Related works
Discuss this work
Start a discussion about this work.
You need to login to discuss this work. Click here to login.
If you are not yet registered click here to become a member.
Find out more about membership