Sophie Anderson - No Walk Today

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/speel/paint/anderson.htm

**update Aug 09 **
Sir David, the grandson of the 5th Duke of Buccleuch, bought it for 14 guineas (£14.70p) in the 1920s. A supplementary obituary in The Times described how he was detained at work and missed the sale but found the picture unsold and bought it afterwards.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/scotland/article5010485.ece

Hammer Price with Buyer's Premium: 1,038,050 GBP
L08137, lot 96
Nov 2008
Sotheby's

'There she is, all dressed up for her walk, in her lovely little bottle-green velvet pelisse and ostrich feather hat, but the rain has started (you can see the drops on the window pane) and she looks out disconsolately, wondering if it will clear. (The flowers outside the window will tell gardeners what time of year it is!)' Sir David Scott

'It is, to my mind, a very pleasing bit of work, telling its own simple story, quite PreRaphaelite in its representational detail which repays close study. Look, for instance, at the rain drops on the window and the flowers, Jasmine and Fuchsia, the Fuschia not yet in bloom, which tell us that the time of year is about July; to say nothing of the lovely clothes the little girl is wearing. How disappointed she looks as she stands there on a chair gazing out at the approaching storm - no mere passing April shower.' Sir David Scott

This is one of the most enduring and well loved of all images of Victorian childhood, and - of all the paintings in the Scott collection - was the one in which Sir David took most particular delight. He gave a careful reading of the different elements of the composition, on the basis of which he constructed the painting's narrative. We see the child through the glass of a sash window, with glazing bars and window frame forming a grid across the composition, and lending a sense of incarceration to the subject. Sir David's view was that the weather conditions were worsening, although in fact the light of the sun shines - perhaps momentarily - on the girl's face and clothes. Nonetheless, it seems clear that the order has been given that she will not go out, and disappoint.

http://www.sothebys.com/app/live/lot/LotDetail.jsp?lot_id=159450492

[The Turtle Dove]

http://www.artrenewal.org/asp/database/art.asp?aid=224
http://www.artmagick.com/pictures/artist.aspx?artist=sophie-anderson