The Doctor

Image credit: Tate

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In 1890 Sir Henry Tate (1819–1898) commissioned a painting from Luke Fildes, the subject of which was left to his own discretion. The artist chose to recall a personal tragedy of his own, when in 1877 his first son, Philip, had died at the age of one in his Kensington home. Fildes’ son and biographer wrote: ‘The character and bearing of their doctor throughout the time of their anxiety, made a deep impression on my parents. Dr Murray became a symbol of professional devotion which would day inspire the painting of The Doctor’ (Fildes, p.46). Fildes invented a new setting and characters for his painting, and in 1890 he made several sketches of a fisherman’s cottage in Hope Cove in Devon. He used this visual evidence to build a replica of the cottage in a corner of his studio in Melbury Road so he could experiment with the effects of lamplight while dawn was breaking in to the dark interior.

Tate Britain

London

Title

The Doctor

Date

exhibited 1891

Medium

Oil on canvas

Measurements

H 166.4 x W 241.9 cm

Accession number

N01522

Acquisition method

Presented by Sir Henry Tate 1894

Work type

Painting

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Tate Britain

Millbank, London, Greater London SW1P 4RG England

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