Spotted copperplate colored and hand-colored/paper, 32 x 38 cm (plate imprint),
37.4 x 47.5 cm (sheet)
below composition on left: Painted by J. Russell R.A.; on right: Engraved by A. Zecchin
at bottom center: BETSY IN TROUBLE
good state of preservation
LITERATURE:
- Bartolommeo Gamba, Catalogo degli artisti bassanesi viventi in cui si descrivono alcune delle loro migliori opere esposte in Patria il dì 16 Agosto 1807 per festeggiare il nome dell'Augusto Nostro Sovrano Napoleone il Grande, Bassano: dalla Tipografia Remondiniana, 1807, p. nlb [here as: Antonio Cecchin, author/ritualist of "La Morte del Canarino"/"Death of the Canary"/].
The author of the pattern of the presented engraving, John Russell, is one of the most prominent English pastelists of the 18th century. He exhibited more works at the Royal Academy than any of his contemporaries. He enjoyed a popularity rivaling that of Reynolds. Russel mainly created portraits and genre scenes. "Betsy" is an example of a specific genre of genre painting with sentimental overtones. To describe scenes often depicting - as in this case - children, Joshua Reynolds coined the term "fancy pictures." At the time, these paintings were "fashionable" and "extravagant" at the same time.
