This drawing of Oliver Madox Brown is one of several of his young children which Madox Brown executed. Some were exhibited at the Liverpool Academy 1858 and his one-man show in Piccadilly 1865, but this one is not specifically described. Oliver was born on 20 January 1855 and died 5 November 1874, aged 19. Madox Brown's diary for 4th May 1855 presumably refers to this drawing 'Meant to do much work, but only drew at Nolly and in the eveng. accompts (much shocked) (2 hours)' (Virginia Surtees (ed.), The Diary of Ford Madox Brown, 1981, p. 136. At this time he was working on The Last of England and designing Work. It is possible that the strengthening of the outline means that the drawing was used at a later date as a cartoon in some later painting such as Crabtree Watching the Tansit of Venus (signed and dated 1883).

We are grateful to Miss Mary Bennett for her help in preparing this catalogue entry