A School
- Artist: John Opie
- Date: 1784
- Medium: Oil paint on canvas
- Dimensions: support: 1023 x 1270 mm
- Museum: Tate Britain
- Collection record: Tate Britain website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
This is the "A School" by John Opie, painted in 1784. The canvas shows a modest Cornish schoolroom where a group of boys sit around a schoolmistress who is modeled after Opie’s own mother. One child stands before her with an open book, another holds the paw of a tabby cat. Opie’s use of dramatic light and a Dutch influence—especially Rembrandt—creates a sense of naturalism that surprised the Royal Academy audience. The work was praised as a “great nature” for its realism and the frank portrayal of ordinary life, yet Opie’s working‑class background drew condescension from some critics, who joked that “people in vulgar life could afford to pay for pictures.” The painting boosted Opie’s reputation as the “Cornish wonder” and signaled a shift toward democratic subjects in British art, bringing everyday scenes into the elite space of the academy.
See it in person
A School is in the collection of Tate Britain on Millbank, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
