David Wilkie  (1785-1841) (After) “The Blind Fiddler (1806)...

Estimate

€2,000 - €3,000

David Wilkie  (1785-1841) (After)

“The Blind Fiddler (1806),” a copy made c 1810, O.O.C.,  approx.. 61cms x 74cms (24” x 29”). (1)

This oil on canvas is a superb copy of The Blind Fiddler, a genre painting by the Scottish artist David Wilkie. It was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1806, to great acclaim, and is now in Tate Britain. Influenced by David Teniers, The Blind Fiddler is well composed and well crafted. In the large kitchen of a cottage, seated on a stool, a fiddler plays a tune in front of a group of women, children and men. While the location of the cottage is not specified, it is probably in Scotland. The audience looks to be an extended family group, ranging from the youngest child to the oldest man. The fiddler’s violin case is at his feet, alongside a travelling bag. Seated closest to him, a woman, wearing a brown cloak and with an infant in her arms, listens attentively. Two men stand in front of the fireplace, the older one regarding the fiddler with admiration, while beside him, a younger man snaps his fingers, attracting the attention of an infant. At the front of the group are two children, one trailing a toy wagon with a broken wheel. On the extreme right, a young lad mimics the fiddler, cheerfully playing a toy violin. In the foreground, beside a cooking pot and a watering can, is a wooden box with vegetables lying on the floor. A knife and a half-peeled potato suggests that the unexpected arrival of the travelling musician has brought everyday activity to a halt in the cottage, as the family gathers to hear him play. Such details are characteristic of Wilkie, a genre painter whose skill in rendering everyday scenes did not stand in the way of his understanding of his medium and its limitations. The man snapping his fingers to entertain the child cannot be heard by the viewer, nor can the music of the fiddler, nor the boy capering about behind the group. Such inferences, left to the imagination of the viewer, are a characteristic of Wilkie’s art. He had a keen eye for everyday details of interiors, including fireplaces, utensils, ornaments and furniture. In his painting Rent Day, a queue of people in a sparsely furnished room wait to pay their rent to the landlord’s agent sitting at a table, while in Reading the Will, the action also centres around a table in a large plain drawing room. Wilkie’s work was immensely popular and several of his paintings, including The Village Politicians, were engraved by Raimbach, and published as prints. The present work is an accurate copy of the original, and was likely painted in the early nineteenth century.

Dr. Peter Murray 2025