Artwork
Study of two children
Study of two children is an oil painting by Julius Scholtz. It dates from 1869 and is held in the collection of the National Museum in Warsaw.
About this work
Overview
Julius Scholtz’s oil painting, dated around 1869, portrays a quiet domestic scene of two children sharing a book. The work is part of the collection of the National Museum in Warsaw and exemplifies the artist’s interest in everyday moments rendered with careful observation.
Subject & Meaning
The composition shows a boy in dark attire leaning toward a girl in a red dress, who holds an open book. Their attentive expressions suggest a shared focus on reading, highlighting themes of education, intimacy, and the simple pleasures of childhood interaction.
Technique & Style
Scholtz employs a restrained palette of muted tones, allowing the figures to emerge from a softly modeled background. Subtle contrasts of light and shadow—reminiscent of chiaroscuro—give the scene depth, emphasizing the children’s faces and the illuminated pages of the book.
History & Provenance
Created circa 1869, the painting entered the National Museum in Warsaw’s holdings, where it remains on display. Its acquisition reflects the museum’s broader effort to represent 19th‑century German genre painting within its European art collection.
Artist & collection
Children with a Picture-book
Two Girls Reading
Children with a Picture-book
The Little Convalescent
Portrait of Artist's Daughter Julia
Sisarukset, Nelma ja Ilma
Juliette Courbet at the Age of Ten
Good Friends (Portrait of the Artist's Sister Berta Edelfelt)
The Artist's Sisters Signe and Henriette Reading a Book
The Butterflies
Les Boëchelles. Two Walloon Peasant Children
The Children