Thomas Beach (1738 - 1806) Two Children Oil on Canvas

THOMAS BEACH (1738-1806) Two Children Oil on canvas Canvas size : 50 x 40 inches (127 x 102 cms)

Framed size : 57 x 47 inches (145 x 120 cms) Frame : Early 20th century carved and gilt wood frame

Provenance : Walter Samuel, 2nd Viscount Bearsted His sale, Christie’s London With Leger Galleries

Literature : E.S.Beach Thomas Beach 1934

Thomas Beach was born in Milton Abbey in Dorset in 1738. He studied with Sir Joshua Reynolds from 1760-62 and then moved to Bath to take advantage of the demand for portraiture there amongst the fashionable society visitors. He exhibited a number of pictures in London throughout his life, and specifically at the Royal Academy from 1785-1797. His style is close to that of his master Reynolds, with perhaps a little more directness in terms of characterization. His sitters were mostly from Bath or the West of England. He retired from painting in 1800 and died in Dorchester in 1806. The sitters of the present charming picture of a young boy and his baby sister are not known. However the picture was listed in Elise Beach’s work on Thomas Beach. The author, a descendant of Beach, called her work Thomas Beach, a Dorset painter, favourite pupil of Sir Joshua Reynolds, which title alone goes some way to explaining the closeness of style between the two painters. This present picture was titled Boy and Girl in Elise Beach’s list of the known works of the painter and at the date of publication (1934) the work was catalogued as still being owned by Viscount Bearsted. Walter Samuel, 2nd Viscount Bearsted, had a substantial fortune, which he owed to his father who had founded the Shell Transport and Trading Company. He became a collector of very high order, helped undoubtedly by his position as a Trustee of the National Gallery. Much of his collection is still held at Upton House, the country seat he bought in the 1920’s, now owned by the National Trust. This present picture, a fine and attractive example of 18th century English portraiture, would have been much to the taste of such major collectors of the early 20th century.

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