The Family of Sir James Hunter Blair, 1st Baronet 1780 - 1790

Editor: Here we have "The Family of Sir James Hunter Blair, 1st Baronet", created between 1780 and 1790 by David Allan. It's a watercolor, pencil, and colored pencil drawing, quite a large group portrait. I'm struck by how staged it feels, but at the same time, it's portraying this supposed leisurely family outing. What do you see in it? Curator: It's a fascinating image, isn’t it? Allan positions the family within a burgeoning culture of sensibility and nascent ideas about childhood. Look at how they interact with the landscape. The family isn’t just *in* nature; they’re performing a relationship *with* nature, and with each other, for the viewer. Note how everyone's included, the adult, the children and even an enslaved child being dragged down, and being forced to play along, can you image the power dynamics involved. Editor: That's a great point about performance. And I didn't even notice the enslaved child! The composition does seem to almost carefully arrange them like props, rather than depicting spontaneous family fun. What do you think the presence of such an uncomfortable detail adds? Curator: Exactly! By inserting the horrors of colonialism into an upper class family portrait, Allan turns a record of accomplishment into an active document of society’s ill-doings and injustices. I think Allan aims to use portraiture as a means to bring attention to the ethics of upper-class complacency. It shows the families active role in perpetuating said colonialism. Editor: Wow, I hadn't considered all of that. It really shifts my understanding of the piece from a simple portrait to something much more critical of its time. Curator: Precisely. It highlights how artistic patronage and production were often intertwined with the complex socio-political and economic structures of the time. These images, seemingly benign, actively helped define these figures and the socio-political structures supporting them, too. I have learnt a lot from your observation also. Editor: Well, I've certainly learned a lot today!