Retirement gifts that mark a life’s work: 12 portraits and prints
A Rembrandt for the master of their craft, Monet’s Riviera for the traveller, Homer’s canoe for the fisherman, and a portrait of the home they finally have time for: twelve retirement gifts with meaning.
A retirement gift has two jobs. It honours the work someone has done, and it points toward the life they are about to have: the garden, the travel, the boat, the dog that will finally get the long walks it always wanted.
The twelve masterworks below do one or the other, and some do both. A few are the starting points of Fable’s portrait styles, so you can send a photo of their house or their dogs and see a free preview. The rest are prints of the pleasures that wait after the last working day.
1. The Writing Master
Rembrandt, The Writing Master. Oil on oak. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
This portrait is thought to show Lieven van Coppenol, the most famous writing master in Amsterdam, who was proud enough of his craft to commission portraits from Rembrandt’s circle. It is a picture of a lifetime of skill, in the dignity of the face and the hands.
For the master of their trade: the teacher, the lawyer, the craftsman.
2. View of Mount Vernon
Joachim Ferdinand Richardt, View of Mount Vernon, 1858. Oil on canvas. Mount Vernon Ladies' Association.
George Washington retired to Mount Vernon twice, after the war and after the presidency, and spent his last years there farming. Richardt painted the house at dusk in 1858. The style built from it paints a home the same way.
Best photo: their house from the lawn, on a sunny evening.
Create your portrait in this style
3. Fino and Tiny
George Stubbs, Fino and Tiny, 1791. Oil on canvas.
Stubbs painted Fino, a big Pomeranian, and Tiny, a small spaniel, for the Prince of Wales in 1791. Two dogs, one large and one small, as a retirement portrait for the household’s other residents.
Best photo: the two dogs standing side by side outdoors.
Create your portrait in this style
4. An Old Woman with Cat
Max Liebermann, An Old Woman with Cat, 1878. Oil on canvas. J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles.
Max Liebermann painted this woman and her cat with complete respect for her age and calm. The style built from it suits anyone who has earned a quiet afternoon with the cat.
Best photo: seated outdoors with the cat on the lap.
Create your portrait in this style
5. Bordighera
Claude Monet, Bordighera, 1884. Oil on canvas. Art Institute of Chicago.
Monet spent the spring of 1884 at Bordighera on the Italian Riviera, painting palms, olives and impossible blues. It is the travel poster every retiree deserves.
For the first long trip south.
6. Spanish Landscape
John Singer Sargent, Spanish Landscape, 1879–80. Oil on wood. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
The young Sargent travelled through Spain in 1879 and painted small, quick landscapes like this one: pale earth, a white sky, the heat almost visible.
For someone finally planning the Spanish road trip.
7. Courtyard in Venice
John Singer Sargent, Courtyard in Venice, 1913. Oil on canvas. Harvard Art Museums.
Sargent returned to Venice again and again. In 1913 he painted a sunlit courtyard of the Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista, empty and calm, the perfect place to sit with a coffee.
For the traveller who wants to see Venice slowly.
8. Schooner - Nassau
Winslow Homer, Schooner - Nassau, 1898/99. Transparent watercolor, with traces of opaque watercolor, rewetting, blotting and scraping, over graphite, on thick, rough twill-textured, ivory wove paper. Art Institute of Chicago.
Winslow Homer wintered in the Bahamas in the late 1890s and painted these watercolours of boats on turquoise water. Pure light and calm.
For a sailor, or anyone dreaming of warm winters.
9. The Rapids, Hudson River, Adirondacks
Winslow Homer, The Rapids, Hudson River, Adirondacks, 1894. Transparent watercolor, with traces of opaque watercolor, blotting, and scraping, over graphite, on thick, rough-textured, ivory wove paper. Art Institute of Chicago.
Homer loved fishing in the Adirondacks, and his watercolours of guides and canoes are among the best pictures of the outdoors ever made. Here a canoe shoots the rapids of the upper Hudson.
For the fisherman or the canoeist with free weekdays at last.
10. Gardener's House at Antibes
Claude Monet, Gardener's House at Antibes, 1888. Oil on canvas. Cleveland Museum of Art.
Monet painted the gardener’s house at Antibes in 1888, half hidden behind a great tree. A garden in the south, glowing in the sun: what many people picture when they picture retirement.
For the gardener, especially one heading somewhere warm.
11. Seba Crossing
Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川 広重, Seba Crossing, c. 1835/38. Color woodblock print; oban. Art Institute of Chicago.
Hiroshige’s travellers cross a long bridge on the Kisokaidō road, one of the great journeys of old Japan. A picture about being on the road, with no hurry at all.
For someone whose next chapter is travel.
12. Sunny Autumn Day
George Inness, Sunny Autumn Day, 1892. Oil on canvas. Cleveland Museum of Art.
George Inness painted this golden autumn tree in 1892, near the end of his own long career. It is warm, unhurried and quietly glorious, like a good retirement.
Hang it where the afternoon light reaches it.
Think about the first thing they will do with their free time, and choose the picture that shows it. If it is the dog or the house, send a photo and see the free preview; if it is a journey, give them the view.
Questions
What is a meaningful retirement gift?
Something that marks the career and looks forward to what comes next: a portrait of their home or pets, or a print of a place or pastime they have been waiting years to enjoy.
What is a good retirement gift from a team?
A large framed print or a portrait made from a photo of the retiree with their dog or at their house. A group can share the cost and add a card signed by everyone.
Are there retirement gifts for women and men alike?
Yes. Portraits of a home, a garden or a pet suit anyone, and prints of travel, gardens and the sea are welcome on almost any wall.