Eh! Eh!, les autres, allons jouer!
Datec. 1889
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsCanvas: 36 3/4 × 51 inches (93.3 × 129.5 cm)
Framed: 41 1/2 × 56 1/4 inches (105.4 × 142.9 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase with funds provided by the Gari Melchers Collectors’ Society.
Object number2010.15
CopyrightThe images and text contained on this page are owned by Telfair Museums or used by the Museum with permission from the owners. Unauthorized reproduction, transmission or display of these materials is prohibited with the exception of items deemed “fair use” as defined by U.S. and international copyright laws.Label TextBorn and raised in Chicago, Walter MacEwen spent a year at Northwestern University before leaving to study at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Munich where he became enamored with the old Dutch masters. MacEwen applied this fascination to his own work and soon became well-known for his portrayals of domestic interiors, children playing outdoors and overt references to Dutch life. MacEwen was regarded as a true craftsman of light utilization and often employed the use of “backlighting” in his images. He first exhibited this painting in the Paris Salon of 1889, under the title Eh! Eh! les autres, allons jouer! (which translates roughly to “Hey, you! Come play with us!”). One critic commented that MacEwen’s work was “most exceptional,” and continued to praise it, saying, “[MacEwen] has keen insight into their emotions and a sympathy with their joys and sorrows which vivify every child’s face he portrays.” Prominent Chicago collector Potter Palmer acquired the painting and loaned it in 1890 to the Art Institute of Chicago, where it was exhibited under the title Dutch Urchins Calling.