Miss Cunningham Holding Her King Charles Spaniel

Prints and Drawings

1770

Robert Healy
Irish, 1743-1771

A promising artist from the Dublin Drawing Schools, Robert Healy left behind a small but exquisite body of work when he died at age 27. He focused on drawing and pastel and soon became extraordinarily accomplished at making grisaille (monochrome) compositions like this one. The artist completed Miss Cunningham Holding Her King Charles Spaniel near the end of his life, portraying Surgeon General Alexander Cunningham’s daughter. Healy’s delicate use of white chalk conveys the girl’s youth and innocence; she appears oddly vulnerable against the ominous darkness of the wooded background, alluding to the tensions between humanity and nature embodied in Ireland’s history.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Prints and Drawings

Artist: Robert Healy
Title: Miss Cunningham Holding Her King Charles Spaniel
Place: Ireland (Artist's nationality:)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 1770
Medium: Black chalk, charcoal, and gouache, with stumping, scratching, and erasing, heightened with white chalk, on ivory laid paper, laid down
Dimensions: 58.4 × 42.2 cm (23 × 16 5/8 in.)
Credit Line: Regenstein Endowment Fund
Reference Number: 2009.682
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