Blind Man's Buff

ca. 1788

George Morland English, 1763-1804

On View

Fashionable Living, Level 3, South Wing

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Provenance

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Published References

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Catalogue Raisonné

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Credit Line for Reproduction

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About the Artwork

Title Blind Man's Buff

Artwork Date ca. 1788

Artist George Morland

Life Dates 1763-1804

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. English

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. ----------

Medium Oil on canvas

Dimensions Unframed: 27 1/2 × 35 1/2 inches (69.8 × 90.2 cm) Framed: 33 15/16 × 41 3/4 × 3 1/4 inches (86.2 × 106.1 × 8.3 cm)

Classification Paintings

Department European Painting

Credit Gift of Elizabeth K. McMillan in memory of her sisters, Mary Isabella McMillan and Annie McMillan

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 36.102

Markings

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Provenance

February 5, 1791, sold by (Christie's, London, England) no. 42;
by 1897, until at least 1908, Lieutenant Colonel F. A. White (Castor House, Northampton, England);
March 28, 1908, sold by (Christie's, London, England) no. 136;
1908, purchased by Barnet Lewis (London, England);
February 28, 1930, sold by (Christie's, London, England) lot 110;
1930, purchased by Colnaghi [for 2940 pounds];
1936, (Vose Galleries, Boston, Massachusetts, USA);
1936, purchased by Elizabeth K. McMillan;
1936-present, gift to the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

For more information on provenance, please visit:

Provenance page

Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

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Published References

Dawe, G. The Life of George Morland, with Remarks on his Works. London, 1807, pp. 70-74.

Richardson, R. George Morland's Pictures: Their Present Possessors, London: 1897, p. 91, no. 2.

Nettleship, J.T. George Morland and the Evolution from Him of Some Later Painters. London, 1898, p. 15.

Williamson, G.C. George Morland: His Life and Works. London,1904, p. 130.

Gilbey, Sir Walter. George Morland: His Life and Works. London, 1907, pp. 69-71.

Newberry, J., Jr. "Blind Man's Buff, by George Morland." Bulletin of the DIA 16, no. 7 (1937): p. 114 (ill.).

Richardson, E.P., ed. Detroit Institute of Arts Catalogue of Paintings. Detroit, 1944, p. 92, no. 650.

George Washington's World. Exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts. Houston, 1954, no. 108.

Winter, D. George Morland, Ph.D. thesis, Stanford University, 1977, pp. 166, 228, no. 26 (ill.).

The New Child:The Origins of Modern Childhood in English Art:1730-1830. Exh. cat., University Art Muesum and Pacific Film Archive, et al. Berkeley, 1995, pp. 64, 140, pl. 36.

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Catalogue Raisoneé

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Credit Line for Reproduction

George Morland, Blind Man's Buff, ca. 1788, oil on canvas. Detroit Institute of Arts, Gift of Elizabeth K. McMillan in memory of her sisters, Mary Isabella McMillan and Annie McMillan, 36.102.