A Frugal Meal

Artist Alexander Mackenzie (Aberdeen, Scotland, 1850 - 1890)

Date1888

Mediumoil on canvas

ClassificationsPaintings And Drawings

DimensionsOverall: Height: 110.5 cm, Width: 89.1 cm
Frame: Height: 149.4 cm, Width: 125.6 cm

AcquisitionPresented in 1895 by Alexander Mackenzie, the artist's father.

CopyrightOut of copyright - CC0

LocationOn Display - Gallery 10

Object numberABDAG004459

Keywords

About MeAlexander Mackenzie was a founder member of the Aberdeen Artists Society in 1885 and exhibited regularly with the society until his untimely death in 1890. Between 1886 and 1887 Mackenzie visited Brittany and on his return, painted Breton subjects, such as this little girl.

With its frank naturalism, the picture owes much to the work of Jules Bastien-Lepage, the French Realist painter who focused on similar peasant subjects.

With downcast eyes the young girl gently blows over a spoonful of her sparse dinner in order to cool it down. Her position at one side of the composition draws our equal attention to her source of food - a large soup bowl and bread. Her garb - wooden shoes and cloth cap - betrays her peasant status. The crumbling plaster and torn reproduction on the wall behind further emphasise the child's meagre circumstances. In spite of this backdrop and the picture's title, there is a quaintness of character and innocence to the child that alleviate the viewer's eye from the harsh realities of poverty.

Adopted by Neva and Roy Haites.

To find out how to 'Adopt an Artwork' please email AAGMSupport-Us@aberdeencity.gov.uk
More About Me

Collections Wall

Mackenzie's naturalist style of painting illustrates the harsh reality of peasant life but ultimately makes us sympathetic towards the little girl.

Exhibitions

Gallery 10 - French Impressions