William Archer Shee (1810–1899), the Artist's Son

Sir Martin Archer Shee's portrait of his son William from around 1820 shows the President of the Royal Academy in an intimate family mode quite different from his official portrait commissions. Shee, Irish-born and trained in London, rose to the heights of the British art establishment while maintaining a substantial private practice producing portraits in the manner derived from Reynolds and Lawrence. Portraits of children by their painter-fathers occupy a special place in art historical documentary evidence — the combination of professional skill and parental intimacy produces images of unusual authenticity. William Archer Shee, shown in boyhood here, would grow to adulthood during the Victorian era and live to 1899, and this portrait documents him at the beginning of a life his father could not fully anticipate.

Shee employs a warm, Romantic palette with soft focus and gentle lighting that emphasizes the youth of his subject. The brushwork is more relaxed than in his formal commissions, with fluid handling of the child's hair and clothing that suggests spontaneity.