LESLIE ADAMS PORTRAITS

The Afternoon Tea Party

This monumental canvas is the first work in which the Artist places her subjects in the natural outdoor landscape. Stones in hand, the brothers play traditional “chalkboard games” on the steps while being encouraged by their little sister to share in her afternoon tea party. The composition includes obvious as well as subtle symbolism - the ubiquitous image of a young girl in a white dress, the spring blossoms, and the families’ emblem engraved in the stone - are all universal themes found in paintings since the beginning of the Renaissance. Rather than a formal, posed image, the painting illustrates the playfulness of childhood yet, more importantly, a precious moment captured within the history of the family.