Monday, August 31, 2009

Frederic Lord Leighton - Mrs James Guthrie


c. 1864 - 66
oil on canvas
83 x 54.5"
Yale Centre
Exhited at the RA in 1866.
Showing perfectly Leighton's amazing ability to paint fabrics. She looks very pale and reportedly many sittings were cancelled due to her ill health. It seems very Venetian in style, and he was studying Venetian portraits of the 16th century at the time, after his visit to Venice in 1865.
Several critics have pointed out that his portraits are beautiful for their own sake and he makes no attempt to convey the personality of the sitter.

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