Constant Lambert as a Christ's Hospital Schoolboy 1916

George Washington Lambert made this sensitive portrait of Constant Lambert, a student at Christ’s Hospital, with oils, at a time when the weight of tradition still hung heavy in the air. The artist’s touch is both confident and tender, especially when you see it up close. I wonder, what was it like for Lambert to capture this young boy’s image? He’s trying to grasp something beyond the surface, something about the kid’s character, right? You can sense it in the way the boy's hands are painted, they seem tentative. The blue background almost feels like a stage, and I wonder, was the kid nervous or excited to be sitting there? And what about those stockings? That bright yellow is an intriguing and surprising color. Painters, you know, we're all just trying to figure out what it means to be human, one brushstroke at a time. What an interesting dialogue across time!