The John Bacon Family is a conversation piece by the English painter Arthur Devis (1712–1787), a format in which he specialized and for which he is chiefly remembered in art history [1]. Executed in oil on canvas, the work is held in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago [VERIFIED CATALOGUE]. Devis, born in Preston, Lancashire, trained under the Flemish topographical artist Peter Tillemans in London before turning to portraiture, where he built a considerable reputation that did not survive his lifetime [1].
Devis occupies a distinct place in 18th-century British art as a painter of the conversation piece, a type of informal group portrait showing figures in domestic or landscape settings [1]. After his apprenticeship in Tillemans's London studio in the early 1730s—where he copied views of Italy after artists such as Pannini and Marco Ricci—he shifted to portraiture and achieved considerable success [1]. His reputation declined, however, as he failed to adapt to later fashionable currents; his commissions dwindled and his work was largely forgotten until the 20th-century revival of interest in the conversation piece [1].
In The John Bacon Family, Devis arranges the figures in a manner typical of his conversation pieces, emphasizing familial cohesion and social identity. The group is anchored by the patriarch, John Bacon, whose central placement and confident bearing convey authority and continuity. The inclusion of children and women within the composition reinforces themes of lineage and domestic virtue, values central to Georgian self-presentation. The setting and props—furnishings, textiles, and personal objects—serve to articulate the family's material standing and cultural aspirations, a hallmark of Devis's approach to portraiture [1].
Devis worked in oil on canvas, a medium that allowed him the precise, detailed handling seen in The John Bacon Family [VERIFIED CATALOGUE]. His technique is characterized by meticulous attention to costume and surface detail, with figures often posed in slightly stiff, doll-like attitudes that nonetheless convey a sense of polite sociability. This manner, distinctive to Devis, distinguishes his conversation pieces from the more fluid, painterly styles of contemporaries such as Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Gainsborough, who dominated British portraiture in the later 18th century [1].
The ownership and display history of The John Bacon Family is not documented in available sources. However, the trajectory of Devis's reputation—from contemporary success to posthumous obscurity and 20th-century rediscovery—provides context for how works such as this one circulated. The revival of scholarly and market interest in the conversation piece during the mid-20th century brought Devis's oeuvre back into view, leading to major exhibitions and museum acquisitions [1].
For comparison, the Art Institute of Chicago also holds Devis's John Thomlinson and His Family (1745), a work with a fully documented provenance: it descended from the sitters to Major Henry Howard, was offered at Christie's, London in 1931 (bought in), passed to Arthur Tooth and Sons, Ltd., London by 1948, and was sold to the Art Institute in 1956 [3]. That painting was exhibited at the Harris Museum and Art Gallery, Preston (1937), Arthur Tooth and Sons, London (1948), and the Yale Center for British Art (1980) [3].
Devis's reputation has been reassessed since the 20th-century revival of interest in the conversation piece, and his works are now studied for their documentation of Georgian family life and social codes [1]. The Art Institute of Chicago's holdings, including The John Bacon Family, contribute to this ongoing appreciation of an artist whose career reflects both the opportunities and the fragility of success in the 18th-century London art market [1][3].
Arthur Devis (1712–1787) was an English painter born in Preston, Lancashire, the eldest son of Anthony Devis, a carpenter and bookseller. He trained under the Flemish artist Peter Tillemans and became known for his conversation pieces, a type of informal group portrait [1].
A conversation piece is a type of portrait, popular in 18th-century Britain, depicting a group of figures—often a family—in informal poses within a domestic or landscape setting. Devis is generally regarded as a leading practitioner of this genre [1].
The painting is in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, where it is catalogued as an oil on canvas by Arthur Devis [VERIFIED CATALOGUE].
Arthur Devis (19 February 1712 – 25 July 1787) was an English painter whose father, Anthony, was progenitor of what became a family dynasty of painters and writers. The place of Arthur Devis in art history is generally as painter of the typ
English painter, 1712-1787
artist: Arthur Devis (English, 1712–1787); date: 1745; medium: Oil on canvas; dimensions: 60.9 × 101.9 cm (24 × 40 1/8 in.); Framed: 81.3 × 122 × 11.5 cm (32 × 48 × 4 1/2 in.); credit: Joseph and Helen Regenstein Foundation Fund; provenance
Louie Drehmer, Curator, ArtWiki
Louie curates ArtWiki, cross-referencing every entry against museum records, Wikidata, the Getty Union List of Artist Names, and Wikipedia.
The John Bacon Family is an oil painting by Arthur Devis, 1743, held at Art Institute of Chicago.
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