Floor plan

Style galleriesGeorgian Britain

Georgian Britain

A light-skinned woman in a long, shiny white dress sits at a desk reading a book. The book is propped on a large red pillow. Her head is propped in her hand.
This is a drawing of a bird perched on a branch. The bird is detailed and identified as "Turtur Risorius." It rests on a green textured branch against a plain background. The bird has a black ring around its neck, soft brown plumage with intricate feather patterns, and light pink legs. Its eye is prominent and outlined within its head design. The branch is minimalist with small buds and thin twigs.
A work made of pen and black ink and brush and black ink wash, with touches of pen and brown ink, on ivory laid paper.
From a grassy riverbank, we look across the placid surface of a river lined along the far bank with trees and farm animals in this horizontal landscape painting. The scene is painted loosely with brushstrokes visible throughout, so some details are difficult to make out. For the surface of the river, russet-brown and steel-gray paint skims lightly across the canvas and leaves some unpainted areas visible, creating the effect of light shimmering on the still water. On our left, a shallow wooden barge is propelled along the stream by two men in red caps with long poles. The boat carries a white horse wearing blinders and a harness. The riverbank beyond is lined with pale, sage-green grass tinged with gold, growing in front of a tangle of darker green trees and bushes. Across the water from us near the middle of the picture, a small rowboat sits in the shallows at the foot of a steep riverbank. Above, a white cottage with a reddish roof and chimney is tucked behind the trees, with a wooden rack full of hay next to it. Nearby, a plow and wheeled cart, highlighted with strokes of white, sit near more mounds of hay. Rocky fields reach into the distance. The vista is blocked to our right by another clump of trees and a rocky outcropping, rising from the stream, to our right of center. The steep, dark roof of a farmhouse is barely visible among the trees. Along the riverside to our right, a small group of cinnamon-brown and cream-white cows stand at water's edge. A rolling pasture stretches behind them to meet blue hills in the distance. Above, in the upper third of the painting, mottled white, pale rose, and gray clouds rolling across a steel-gray sky are reflected in the water below.
A work made of red chalk on cream laid paper.
A work made of oil on panel.

The works in this room are listed below.

Works in this room

Portraits, conversation pieces and watercolour landscapes from Hogarth to Constable.

Section 1, north wall

  1. A light-skinned woman in a long, shiny white dress sits at a desk reading a book. The book is propped on a large red pillow. Her head is propped in her hand.
    Isabella WolffThomas Lawrence, 1803–15Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. This is a drawing of a bird perched on a branch. The bird is detailed and identified as "Turtur Risorius." It rests on a green textured branch against a plain background. The bird has a black ring around its neck, soft brown plumage with intricate feather patterns, and light pink legs. Its eye is prominent and outlined within its head design. The branch is minimalist with small buds and thin twigs.
    Turtur RisoriusWilliam Home LizarsCourtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  3. A work made of pen and black ink and brush and black ink wash, with touches of pen and brown ink, on ivory laid paper.
    Hannah Presenting Samuel to EliJohn Flaxman, c. 1783Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

Section 1, south wall

  1. From a grassy riverbank, we look across the placid surface of a river lined along the far bank with trees and farm animals in this horizontal landscape painting. The scene is painted loosely with brushstrokes visible throughout, so some details are difficult to make out. For the surface of the river, russet-brown and steel-gray paint skims lightly across the canvas and leaves some unpainted areas visible, creating the effect of light shimmering on the still water. On our left, a shallow wooden barge is propelled along the stream by two men in red caps with long poles. The boat carries a white horse wearing blinders and a harness. The riverbank beyond is lined with pale, sage-green grass tinged with gold, growing in front of a tangle of darker green trees and bushes. Across the water from us near the middle of the picture, a small rowboat sits in the shallows at the foot of a steep riverbank. Above, a white cottage with a reddish roof and chimney is tucked behind the trees, with a wooden rack full of hay next to it. Nearby, a plow and wheeled cart, highlighted with strokes of white, sit near more mounds of hay. Rocky fields reach into the distance. The vista is blocked to our right by another clump of trees and a rocky outcropping, rising from the stream, to our right of center. The steep, dark roof of a farmhouse is barely visible among the trees. Along the riverside to our right, a small group of cinnamon-brown and cream-white cows stand at water's edge. A rolling pasture stretches behind them to meet blue hills in the distance. Above, in the upper third of the painting, mottled white, pale rose, and gray clouds rolling across a steel-gray sky are reflected in the water below.
    The White HorseJohn Constable, 1818-1819Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. A work made of red chalk on cream laid paper.
    Self-PortraitJohn Flaxman, c. 1779Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  3. A work made of oil on panel.
    The Sand Pits, Hampstead HeathJohn Linnell, 1834Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

Section 2, south wall

  1. This painting shows a serene pastoral scene with trees, a wooden gate, and foliage extending towards the horizon. Closest to us, there is a low riverbank with some tree branches in the water. Up a grassy dirt hill, two donkeys are visible off to the right, partially hidden by vegetation. On the left, a dirt path leads to the wooden gate. To the left of the gate, two people sit on the grass with a wicker basket between them. The tall trees that rise in the background have leaves in shades of green, yellow, and dark orange. The sky above the scene is yellow with some hints of light blue, and golden light shines down on the landscape.
    Landscape with Picnickers and Donkeys by a GateJoseph Paul, c. 1830-1880Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. Black, gray pastel portrait of man in a fur hat.
    Self-Portrait in a Fur CapJoseph Wright of Derby, 1765/68Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  3. A work made of engraved letterhead, pen and ink calligraphy, and graphite ruling on parchment, folded with strap and (missing) seal.
    Recovery Document (Land Title Grant)Unrecorded British maker, 1702/14 (Queen Anne period)Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  4. Lord Rothes, 1768
    Lord RothesUnrecorded British maker, 1768Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum

Section 2, north wall

  1. A work made of oil on canvas.
    Anna Maria Dashwood, later Marchioness of ElyThomas Lawrence, c. 1805Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. A work made of brush and black ink wash, with pen and black ink and opaque white and gray watercolor, on cream laid paper.
    A Hero Born on a Bier, from The Master of Giants PortfolioPrince Hoare, 1779Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  3. This is a drawing of a winged figure seated on a bird. The image depicts a figure with flowing robes, wings outstretched, holding an open book in one hand. The figure appears to be looking off to the side, with a serene expression. The lower part of the image includes a bird upon which the figure is seated. The bird's head is turned slightly upwards, following the direction in which the figure is gazing. The image is rendered in a warm, monochromatic palette. In the lower section of the image, there is some text, likely Latin.
    Saint John the EvangelistJohn Skippe, 1771Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  4. Captain George K. H. Coussmaker (1759–1801), by Joshua Reynolds, 1782
    Captain George K. H. Coussmaker (1759–1801)Joshua Reynolds, 1782Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Section 3, north wall

  1. A work made of oil on canvas.
    Theophilia GwatkinJoshua Reynolds, 1776–81Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. We look out onto a landscape with low, grassy hills to the left, a lake to the right, and a brick building in the center distance below a sky filled with towering white clouds in this horizontal painting. A wooden fence closer to us crosses the landscape from the lower left corner and disappears where the land slopes down to meet the water at the center of the painting. Several black and white cows graze in the field beyond the fence to our left. Two men in a wooden boat pull in nets on the lake to our right near a pair of swans. The lake crosses the composition in the near distance, disappearing into a culvert farther back. A donkey pulls a small carriage with two people near a bridge that crosses the lake in the distance to our left. The brick manor house is visible through a break in the full, deep green trees that line the horizon, which comes halfway up the composition. The clouds cast noticeable shadows in the brightly sunlit scene.
    Wivenhoe Park, EssexJohn Constable, 1816Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington