The Bromley Children

Ford Madox Brown was a prominent son of the Pre-Raphaelite art generation; a group of English artists who valued detail, colours and Italic style of painting.

Their analogy was based on Raffaello de Urbino's (Raphael) ignorance on personality as a way of portraying art. The Bromley Children was a hard-hitting piece of art whose romantic idea shared compassion and nature as a source of inspiration.

The Bromley Children

The painting was done in 1843 using oil on canvas. Painted in a portrait format, it showed 3 girls aged between 1 to 6 years. The eldest of the 3 is standing behind with a white dress. On her right is the second born while the youngest in her left. The second born is wearing a jungle green checked dress while the youngest wears a plain dark green. The youngest is shyly gazing forward. They are standing between trees with a homestead in the background. The inspiration for the painting came from Thomas Bromley family. He was an English lawyer, jury and a politician in the 16th Century. He was once England's Lord High Chancellor.

The painting was a memoir of 3 of his 4 daughters. Their dressing showed affluence and privilege compared to other children in the same age group. The nicely maintained garden in background corroborates this assertion. Paintings done by Ford Brown around 1843 include The Prison of Chillion (1844), Out of Town (began in 1843 but finished in 1858), The Spirit of Justice (1844) and The Seeds and Fruits of English Poetry (1845). He valued paintings that showed actual people and activities in time. Most of Ford Madox Brown’s paintings are either at the Manchester Art Gallery or Tate Britain. The Bromley Children has since exchanged ownership severally and is currently in a private collection. However, online art vendors have copies which they reproduced and print for sale.

Ford Madox Brown and Art

His Franco-English nationalities and Italian influence cemented his exposure on art. His first tutors were Albert Frans Gregorius, Pieter van Hanselaere and Gustaf Wapper. With time, he perfected his art with inspiration from William Hunt, John Millais, Friedrich Overbeck and Peter Cornelius. His prowess saw Dante Gabriel Rossetti grow under his guidance. Although his works presented the Pre-Raphaelite themes, he wasn’t a full member. His involvement was on principle other than association.