The picture with which GC returned to the Royal Academy in 1891 after his secession was called Portrait Group, but he cut it to exclude the unbalancing figure of his oldest child Arthur. It’s now called The Breakfast Table.
It shows breakfast at Widdington in Essex just after he moved there.
Here’s the revised version. In the foreground are his daughters, Meg, left, and Kit, right. His younger sons, Hugh and Raymond John, were babies and aren’t shown. On the table are a loaf of bread, flowers and a letter. Agnes presides. Behind her is the chest GC had bought on one of his visits to Holland in the 1870s.
In the next post is a photograph of a breakfast at 61 Carlton Hill in London, around 1909. On that table are a loaf of bread and flowers. Agnes is presiding and is looking with amusement at, we assume, a letter. Kit glances at her father with filial respect to see what he thinks. Click on the images to enlarge.
The Breakfast Table, 1891-2
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