Nicholas Chevalier, Seeking Fortune, oil on canvas

Signed: yes Description: In this work, a young boy looks wistfully over the edge of the boat in which he is depicted. His bundle is evidence of his leaving, his violin is tucked under his arm, and is perhaps obliquely referred to in the title 'Seeking Fortune'. He wears a Scottish cap and is possibly leaving Glasgow. In its addressing of the theme of emigration, the work has much in common with Ford Madox Brown's The Last of England, 1852-5. Exhibited for the first time in 1887, it has also been suggested that the painting depicts B.L Farjeon, a friend of the artist, who in 1854, at age 16, left England for Australia.