Basic Instincts

Highmore (1692–1780) was much more than just a society painter ... his connection with the Foundling Hospital alerted him to the inequalities and injustices of his time and to the plight of women and children at the mercy of men who always held the keys ... [The ] `Angel of Mercy’ still has the power to shock and, sadly, tells a very modern story.

Highmore (1692–1780) was much more than just a society painter ... his connection with the Foundling Hospital alerted him to the inequalities and injustices of his time and to the plight of women and children at the mercy of men who always held the keys ... [The ] `Angel of Mercy’ still has the power to shock and, sadly, tells a very modern story.

Highmore’s works include many paintings showing his sympathetic approach to the plight of powerless women ... [This is] the first major publication of his work.

It is the commonality between high and low that Basic Instincts reveals so well. We aren’t as divided as we think. Highmore scratches away at the veneer of respectability that coats the art of his age, and finds darkness beneath. Regardless of position, everyone has the same capacity for bad behaviour. And unfortunately, as Highmore shows, all too often women bore the brunt of this behaviour.

'Basic Instincts' brings Joseph Highmore out of the shadows.