The Artist’s Children Reading

A native of New Hampshire, Charles H. Turner studied in Germany during the 1870s and then under Otto Grundmann at the school of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. He was a member of the Unity Art Club and the Boston Art Club, where he exhibited his work from 1881 until his death. Apparently he painted mostly landscapes and portraits, often using members of his own family as models. In this work, Turner’s largest known painting, his children Charles M. and Gertrude H. Turner, aged twelve and fifteen years respectively, are shown reading, probably in the library of the family home in Boston.