Children playing at Horses, from "Illustrated London News"

Children playing at Horses, from "Illustrated London News"

William Luson Thomas

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

After the death of Charles Leslie the "Illustrated London News" honored him with a long commemorative article, illustrated by this wood engraving. A related text describes the American-born artist who achieved professional success in England as "the most individual and thoroughly English, perhaps of all our painters." Although Leslie was known for works that responded to well-known drama and literature, the periodical singled out this genre subject to embody the artist's ability to capture "natural truth and beauty." "Children Playing at Horses" is praised for a "subtlety and simplicity" that uses the "simplest and most familiar materials...[to] create a precious something which shall convey a new impression, impart a new pleasure--compelling us in this instance to sympatize with and almost share the fun of those little folks." William Luson Thomas, a leading wood engraver, was chosen to make the print.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Children playing at Horses, from "Illustrated London News"Children playing at Horses, from "Illustrated London News"Children playing at Horses, from "Illustrated London News"Children playing at Horses, from "Illustrated London News"Children playing at Horses, from "Illustrated London News"

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.