Mr. Joseph May and his sons, Thomas Charles, Joseph and John

1780

Angelica Kauffman Swiss, 1741 - 1807

On View

British Decorative Arts, Level 3, South Wing

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Catalogue Raisonné

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About the Artwork

One of the most celebrated artists of the eighteenth century, the Swiss-born Angelica Kauffman was also one of its most international, beginning her professional ascent in Venice, rising to fame in London, then spending the later part of her career in Rome, where her studio was an unmissable social destination. She was a founding member of England’s Royal Academy, one of only two women to hold this distinction. This painting, along with Mrs. Mary May and Her Daughters, Maria Emilia, Louisa, and Sophia Margaret, also owned by the Detroit Institute of Arts, represents the family of a wealthy wine merchant who had relocated from Portugal to England in 1775. The two pictures are Kauffman’s only known pendant, or paired, portraits. In line with gender roles at the time, the artist varied the settings for the sitters: the males of the May family occupy an architectural interior furnished with a globe, hinting at their worldly pursuits and the role of the next generation in the family’s international trade; the women are shown at ease in a natural setting.

Title Mr. Joseph May and his sons, Thomas Charles, Joseph and John

Artwork Date 1780

Artist Angelica Kauffman

Life Dates 1741 - 1807

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. Swiss

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: 53 3/4 × 66 1/8 × 1 1/8 inches (136.5 × 168 × 2.9 cm) Framed: 57 1/8 × 69 1/2 × 2 inches (145.1 × 176.5 × 5.1 cm)

Classification Paintings

Department European Painting

Credit Museum Purchase, Robert H. Tannahill Foundation Fund

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. 2022.266.2

Markings

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Provenance

1780, commissioned by Joseph May [1730–1796] for (Hale Park, Hampshire, England);
1796, by descent through his daughter, Elizabeth;
1842, moved with Elizabeth on her marriage to Mr. Robert Maxwell (Islandmore, Croom, County Limerick, Ireland);
by descent to their daughter-in-law, Mrs. E. Maxwell (Dublin, Ireland).
G.B. Smith;
15 May 1886, his sale, (probably on behalf of Mrs. Maxwell), (Christie's, London, England), lots 87 and 88;
1886, purchased by McLean for 165 guineas and 60 guineas respectively.
Unitl 1995, by descent to a private collection (Suffolk, England);
1995, Private collection (UK);
2022-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

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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

Jackall, Yuriko. "Two paintings by Angelica Kauffman." The Burlington Magazine 168 (April 2026): pp. 346-351; p. 347 (detail ill.); p. 349 (ill.); p. 351 (detail ill.).

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Catalogue Raisoneé

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Credit Line for Reproduction

Angelica Kauffman, Mr. Joseph May and his sons, Thomas Charles, Joseph and John, 1780, oil on canvas. Detroit Institute of Arts, Museum Purchase, Robert H. Tannahill Foundation Fund, 2022.266.2.