![Frank Bramley - For of Such is the Kingdom of Heaven [1891]](http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5661/21710739072_a9fc4c759c_o.jpg)
Frank Bramley's For of Such is the Kingdom of Heaven, shown at the Royal Academy in 1891 and acquired for Auckland's Mackelvie Collection in 1913, is not only daring in compositional terms, carrying infant mortality directly on to centre-stage, but in its bravura paint handling represents a fascinating meeting between social realism and British impressionism. This work is the British equivalent, by a friend of John Singer Sargent, of the large-scale scenes of modem life pioneered by the French impressionists.
[Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki, New Zealand - Oil on canvas, 180 x 256 cm]