Oil painting, 'Christening Party at Bacharach, Germany', Jacques François Carabain, after 1880

A group of people walking down a village's street in the sunlight, on each side are high houses made of white stones, on the left hand-side is a semi circular half-timbering house.

Given by Sir Edwin Durning-Lawrence, Bt

Given by Sir Edwin Durning-Lawrence, Bart., 1901
Sir Edwin Durning-Lawrence (1837-1914) was born in London, the son of William Lawrence, Alderman. He was educated at University College School, University College London (BA, 1861 and LLB with honours). He married Edith Jane Durning Smith in 1874, the daughter and co-heiress of politician John Benjamin Smith.
During 1867, Durning-Lawrence was called to Middle Temple and also was a member of the Metropolitan Board of Works for a short time, as well as a Lieutenant for the City of London and a Justice of the Peace in Berkshire. He was elected as Liberal Unionist member of Parliament for Truro in 1895; a position he held until 1906. Durning-Lawrence's main interest was literature, especially the Bacon/ Shakespeare controversy; he was the author of Bacon is Shakespeare (1910) and The Shakespeare Myth (1912). In 1901 he gave to the V&A thirteen paintings, museum numbers 620 to 633-1901.

Historical significance: This work is typical of Jacques François Carabain's large output of landscapes and architectural subjects. Carabain favoured humble subject matters, such as the present one, set in the open air, which enabled him to focus on the pictorial rendering of light. This work depicts a christening party in Bacharach am Rhein, a small town in the Mainz-Bingen district in the Rhineland-Palatinate, in Germany.

His earthy palette is enlivened by touches of brick-red in the people's garments and the golden glow of the sunlight. There is also a play of light and shade which isolates and emphasises the principal group. Carabain utilised a similar play of light and shade in other works, including his San Giorgio Gate in Florence, Museum of Fine Arts, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, and San Remo square, Museum of Fine Arts, Brussels, as well as the etching Rue Notre Dame à Bruxelles, Hôtel de Ville, Brussels.

Jacques François Carabain (1834-1892) was born in Amsterdam, where he was a student at the Akademie. He then moved to Antwerp and obtained Belgian nationality in 1880. He later travelled to Italy, Germany, France and Austria. He is chiefly known as a painter of genre scenes and townscapes, and exhibited at the Salon 1881, 1882 et 1892.

The artistic relationship between the Northern and Southern Netherlands, now modern-day Holland and Belgium was strengthened by the proclamation of the Kingdom of Netherlands in 1815. The Prix de Rome was awarded equally to artists from Antwerp and Amsterdam, even after the independence of Belgium in 1830, and the great tradition of the Golden Age remained vivid. Much Belgian art of the first half of the 19th century articulates a new national pride, while nevertheless drawing on French academic taste. In search of a greater realism, painters sought new surroundings, especially in Paris and Italy, but also in Germany.

Jacques François Carabain (1834-1892), was born in Amsterdam where he was a student at the Akademie. He then moved to Antwerp and obtained Belgian nationality in 1880. He later travelled to Italy, Germany, France and Austria. He is chiefly known as a painter of genre scenes and townscapes, many of which were displayed at the Salon 1881, 1882 et 1892.

This painting is a good example of Jacques François Carabain's large output of genre paintings he executed during his travels all over Europe. Like many artists of his generations he favoured humble subject matters such as the present one, set in open air which enabled him to focus on the pictorial rendering of light.

628-1901