Arthur Drummond
1871-1951 | British

Lost and Found

Signed and dated “Drummond, 1903” (middle right)
Oil on canvas

A sentimental narrative of early Edwardian life, this expertly rendered scene captures the moment a Metropolitan police sergeant comes to the aid of a tearful child who has been separated from her family. Elegantly-attired ladies gather around the young girl, offering comfort and hoping to help her reunite with her loved ones. As the child clutches a little doll and is tended to by a sympathetic puppy, she glances up at her Good Samaritans with large doe eyes and a finger to her lips, adding to the scene’s overwhelming nostalgia and sweetness.

Drummond takes care to render a plethora of details and textures in this composition, breathing life-like realism into the moment. He expertly captures a profusion of layered lace ruffles cascading from the neckline of one of the child’s fashionable helpers. He fills the background with horsedrawn omnibus — an Edwardian precursor to London’s later double-deckers — painting the bustling street scene in a distinctive haze to underscore the burgeoning modernity of the metropolitan locale.

Although Drummond specialized in history and genre scenes, like many of his contemporaries he shared in Victorian and Edwardian society's fascination with all subjects pertaining to childhood. This moment of being lost and found speaks to a universal childhood experience. Aided by his decisive details, this scene pulls deeply on the heartstrings of the viewer.

The son of an esteemed marine painter, Arthur Drummond received the encouragement and support of his family from an early age. While in France he studied with both Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant and Jean-Paul Laurens, learning the ways of the Academic artists. In London, he studied with Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, the important British Neo-Classical artist, from whom he would draw his greatest influence. Like Alma-Tadema, many of Drummond’a works were set in Ancient Egypt, Greece or Rome. By 1890 Drummond exhibited his first work at the Royal Academy. He would continue on to exhibit works at the Royal Academy, the Royal Society of Artists in Birmingham and the Royal Institute of Oil Painters throughout his career.

Dated 1903