9 Paintings to Celebrate Father’s Day
A father’s role is often less recognized than the mother’s, which is a shame as both parents give something exceptionally valuable to their children. Traditionally, fathers were often expected to provide the finances and enforce restrictions, while drawing the line at actual emotional contact with their kids. Thankfully, there were always good fathers in the world, and art is here to prove it!
Some of these Father’s Day paintings show religious themes, others are portraits; what they all have in common is that they show touching moments of a father’s love for his kids.
A Sweet Lullaby. Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale
The first one is “A Sweet Lullaby” by painter Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale. It’s an illustration from “The Book of Old English Songs and Ballads”, published by Hodder and Stoughton around 1910. Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale (1872 –1945) was a prominent illustrator and painter, creating illustrations for Tennyson’s “Idylls of the King” and Robert Browning’s poems (including his poem “Another Way of Love” illustrated by her painting “June is Dead”).
Perhaps the work she’s done illustrating Arthurian legends inspired the meticulous study of armor in this sweet painting of a knight father, carrying his son. You don’t actually see the father’s face, only the child’s. The way the child trustingly leans on his father’s shoulder contrasts with the severity of the armor’s cold metal. The painter focuses on the relationship between the two by not leaving much else in the composition – it’s just the father and son and a slope of hill with a meandering path, leading off into the distance. Perhaps part of the charm of these paintings is that it’s unclear whether the father is returning home with his child, or the two of them are setting out on a journey together.
St Joseph with the Christ Child Sleeping in his Arms. Francisco Camilo
While you can find a “Madonna with Child” in almost any museum, it’s much, much rarer to see St. Joseph with Jesus. While in Christianity, Jesus is believed to be the Son of God, St Joseph is credited with being his earthly father who took care of him until Jesus grew up. So, it’s nice to see a painting where St. Joseph is portrayed as a loving father. This painting is by Francisco Camilo (1615-1673), an Italian-Spanish painter; you can see it at the Prado Museum, Madrid.
The Lost Child. Arthur Hughes
“The Lost Child” by Arthur Hughes shows the moment when after a long search, a father finds and hugs his daughter, who was lost in the woods. The artist created two versions of this painting. In one of them painted in 1867, it’s just the father who finds the child, whereas in the earlier 1866 version above both parents are present. The painter masterfully captures the light of the lantern, the shadows of the pine branches, the faithful dog to the right of the group, and the fading greenish-yellow evening sky. The girl seems to have been found moments before nightfall. Overall, this painting does pretty well at conveying a feeling of relief, even if the facial expressions are a bit smoothed over, as was common for Victorian art. Here, as in so many other artworks by painters associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, the setting evokes the mood – the rusty browns of the ferns, the twisting branches lit by the lantern, and the dark depths of the woods in the background. It’s as if you’re invited to create your own story of what happened and how.
Worn Out. Thomas Faed
“Worn Out” by Scottish painter Thomas Faed (1826–1900) was such a hit during the Victorian era that even Van Gogh was known to have seen an engraving of this painting. It was exhibited in 1868. The artist was already famous for his rural scenes showing the daily struggles of the Scottish lower classes. The painting shows a father, who has fallen asleep tending to his ill child. The day is dawning, and the child’s peaceful sleep shows that his fever has broken.
Crow Indian. John Young Hunter
A father from a completely different part of the world is the subject of this sketch by painter John Young Hunter (1874–1955). The artist was born in Glasgow, but visited the US, where he made numerous sketches and paintings at the Crow Indian Reservation. This sketch is one of many he produced during his visit. He was also friends with the American western painter Charles M. Russell. The sketch doesn’t focus on the exotic costumes and beadwork, like so many of the 19th century depictions of Native Americans. Instead, the artist chose to capture the way the small child holds on to his dad while they ride together.
L’Écriture. Jean-Étienne Liotard
This painting takes us back to the Age of Enlightenment, when the modern idea of parenthood can be said to have originated. The idea that parents don’t need to use punishment and force to make their children conform to the behavior they want from them, but instead help their children learn by spending time with them, owes a lot to the ‘Age of Reason’. In their works, Locke and Rousseau started a process that was going to change the way parents educated their children for centuries to come. Isn’t it ironic that sentimental family values came into being during an age that relied on reason so completely?
In “L’Écriture” (“Writing”) by Jean-Étienne Liotard (1702–1789), we see a father writing, watched by his small son. Since this artwork is a pair to another painting, showing a mother and daughter, it’s probable that together they were meant to show the value of parental instruction for children.
The mother is shown teaching her daughter how to pour out hot chocolate, which was probably something a young girl in their society needed to know, and the father is possibly teaching his son how to write. An amazing thing about these paintings by Liotard is that they are executed in pastels. The clear, bright colors and the meticulous details are all part of his paintings’ allure.
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The Newborn. Frederick Elwell
Very recently a father, the young man in Frederick Elwell’s painting leans in to look at his child, cradled in the arms of the mother. The cheerful and light interior echoes the parents’ happiness, although the painter captured the young father’s hesitant and cautious pose.
An Edwardian painter, Frederick Elwell (1870 –1958) was known for his genre scenes. While he was also the author of a portrait of King George V, Elwell often painted people from the lower classes, working in kitchens, doing daily chores, or enjoying the quiet moments of life.
Daddy's Girl. Norman Rockwell
Norman Rockwell could make any subject fun and endearing, and “Daddy’s Girl” is no exception. The painting shows a father embracing his daughter, who has just given him a present. The card on the floor reads “Happy birthday, Dad”.
Famous for his illustrations for the covers of numerous popular American magazines, like his “Spring Flowers”, Norman Rockwell (1894 – 1978) is definitely one of America’s most famous illustrators. He explained what he aimed to do with his illustrations, saying: “Without thinking too much about it in specific terms, I was showing the America I knew and observed to others who might not have noticed”.
Return of the Prodigal Son. Bartolomé Esteban Murillo
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1617-1682) was a painter of the Spanish Baroque. He painted numerous Madonnas, saints, and religious scenes during his lifetime, although some of his most famous paintings feature beggar children going about their daily lives.
The “Return of the Prodigal Son” shows a scene from the Bible, found in Luke 15: 11-32. It’s one of Jesus’ parables, in which he teaches what the kingdom of God is like. In the parable, an old man has two sons. One of them decides that he wants to receive his portion of the father’s property and go see the world. The father allows him to do that. After his many wanderings, during which he loses all his money and ends up working as a swineherd, the prodigal son decides to return to his father and ask him to work for him as a servant, knowing that in his father’s home even the servants are better off than he is. He returns only to find that his father never gave up waiting for him and welcomes him back as his beloved son. In the story, it’s naturally an allegory for God and how he’s ready to welcome his children, when they want to return to him. But it’s also a beautiful painting in its own right, showing the elderly father embracing his son. The servant on the right holds out new clothes for the prodigal son, who’s wearing tattered rags. The adorable white lapdog, who welcomes his long-lost master, is another interesting detail.
Sources:
Bildungsroman Project, http://bildungsromanproject.com/childhood-in-the-enlightenment
Essential Pre-Raphaelites. Lucinda Hawksley. Parragon 2000
Norman Rockwell Museum, https://www.nrm.org/about/about-2/about-norman-rockwell/
Victorian Web, https://victorianweb.org/painting/faed/paintings/3.html
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