... was born in 1835 in Taganrog, a Russian port on the Sea Of Azov, where his father was the British consul. (Taganrog is also the birthplace of Anton Chekhov.)
And When Did You Last See Your Father (oil on canvas, 1878) is undoubtedly his most famous painting. It shows a scene in an imaginary Royalist household during the English Civil War. The Parliamentarians have taken over the house and are questioning a young boy about his Royalist father.
Yeames was inspired to paint the picture to show the crises that could arise from the natural frankness of young children. The boy, who appears to be about ten years old, has undoubtedly been brought up by his parents to tell the truth; but if he does so in this instance he will endanger his father.
The boy in the picture is based on Thomas Gainsborough's painting The Blue Boy. Behind him a girl, probably his sister, waits her turn to be questioned. The boy and girl were based on Yeames's nephew and niece, William and Mary Yeames. At the back of the hall the mother and an older daughter wait anxiously on the boy's reply.
The scene is neutral: while the innocence of the boy is emphasized by his blond hair, open expression and blue suit, the questioners are also treated sympathetically; the main interrogator has a friendly expression and the sergeant with the young girl has his arm on her shoulder as if comforting her.
The painting was bought by the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, in 1878, the year after the gallery opened. Madame Tussauds in London has a life–size waxwork tableau of the scene, faithfully reproduced from the painting.
Yeames died in 1918 in Teignmouth, Devon. A blue plaque was installed in his honour in the year 2000, at 8 Campbell Road, Hanwell, London (near Ealing Hospital), where he lived from 1894 until 1912.
© Haydn Thompson 2017