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A Lamplight Study: Herr Joachim

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Follow the lamplight from Joachim’s lowered face down the bow to his right hand, then up the strings to his left fingers.

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The Hungarian-born violinist Joseph Joachim (1831–1907) was a frequent guest at musical evenings at Little Holland House, where Watts came to know him. In 1867 Watts painted him by lamplight and kept that portrait for his own gallery. He agreed to paint a replica instead, and this canvas, dated 1868, is that replica.

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Oil on canvas · 94 × 58.6 cm · Art Institute of Chicago

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Details and source

Museum title
A Lamplight Study: Herr Joachim
Artist
George Frederick Watts (English, 1817–1904)
Date
1868
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
94 × 58.6 cm (37 × 23 in.); Framed: 98.2 × 76.9 × 5.8 cm (38 5/8 × 30 1/4 × 2 1/4 in.)
Credit line
Bequest of Charles L. Hutchinson
Image license
CC0 1.0 · Public domain
Museum record
Art Institute of Chicago

Artist’s life 1817–1904

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Galler’s rooms and hanging scale are imagined. The image is the museum’s original digital reproduction.

A Lamplight Study: Herr Joachim · George Frederick Watts, 1868
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A Lamplight Study: Herr Joachim, George Frederick Watts

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