Oil painting entitled 'Angelic Child with Lantern' by Charles Robinson, ca. 1912

Oil painting depicting a full length portrait of an angelic child with a lantern. It was possibly a design for a full page colour illustration in a book.

Bequeathed by Edith Mary Robinson

Bequeathed by Edith Mary Robinson, 1982

Historical significance: Charles Robinson (1870-1937) was a watercolour painter, illustrator and decorator. He was the son of Thomas Robinson, a wood engraver. Robinson was educated at Islington High School and Highbury School of Art and subsequently apprenticed to the lithography firm Waterlow and Son. He first came to notice in 1895 when his drawings were published in the influential magazine The Studio and he was asked to illustrate R.L. Stevenson's A Child's Garden of Verses. Charles Robinson and his brothers William Heath Robinson (1872-1944) and Thomas Heath Robinson (1869-1950), were among the most popular illustrators of the Edwardian period. Charles Robinson was elected President of the London Sketch Club, and in 1932 was elected to the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours (the RI).

According to Simon Houfe, Robinson's illustrations had eclectic sources, and were 'partly inspired by the prints of Durer, partly by the Pre-Raphaelites, their space often suggestive of Japanese prints.' (1)

This painting's combination of saturated washes of rich, jewel-like colour with areas of crisp, decorative detail is characteristic of Robinson's style. It was unusual for him to work in oils, and the purpose of this work is not known. It was possibly a design for a colour illustration in a book or magazine.

This painting was included in a bequest of 27 works by Charles Robinson made to the V&A in 1982 by the artist's daughter, Miss Edith Mary Robinson.

Note (1) Simon Houfe, The Dictionary of British Book Illustrators and Caricaturists 1800-1914, London 1978, pp.435-6 (p.453). The biographical information given above is derived from this entry.

P.24-1982