The Calmady Children (Emily, 1818–?1906, and Laura Anne, 1820–1894)

Lawrence exhibited The Calmady Children at the Royal Academy in 1824 and it was immediately acclaimed as his masterpiece — a designation he reportedly disliked, fearing it overshadowed his other achievements. The painting belongs to the tradition of child portraiture that Reynolds had established in England with works like The Strawberry Girl and Penelope Boothby, but Lawrence introduces a Romantic warmth and physical spontaneity that Reynolds's more idealized approach could not match. Emily and Laura Anne Calmady, daughters of Charles Biggs Calmady of Langdon Hall in Devon, are shown in a moment of natural sisterly intimacy — the younger reaching toward the viewer, the elder embracing her — that creates an image of childhood's unselfconscious grace rather than the miniature adult solemnity of earlier child portraiture. The painting was engraved multiple times and widely reproduced, entering the visual culture of British childhood sentiment that Victorian painting would later develop more explicitly. Lawrence was in the last years of his life when he painted this — he died in 1830 — and its acclaim represented a public recognition that coincided with the melancholy of his declining physical health and perpetual financial difficulties.

Lawrence employs his signature fluid brushwork with brilliant impasto highlights on the children's skin and clothing. The warm golden tonality and soft sfumato modeling of flesh create an idealized yet lively effect, with vigorous handling in the drapery contrasting the porcelain-smooth faces.