Ophelia by W. Q. Orchardson, ARA. (1832-1918). 1874. Oil on canvas, 101.5 x 123.1 cm (framed: 128.3 x 147.4 cm. Fleming Collection, Id: 329. Photograph and comment by Jacqueline Banerjee; photograph taken with permission, for the review of the exhibition linked below. [Click on the image to enlarge it.]
Victorian in feel, this painting looks back to Whistler's Symphony in White, No. 2: The Little White Girl and forward to paintings like John Singer Sargent's Helen Sears, and is one of any Ophelias painted in the period. Orchardson's is a waif, almost a wraith, her white dress remarkable in its filmy flimsiness, her lost look demonstrating the inwardness for which his later work is praised.
Links to related material
- The painting in its frame
- Closer view of Ophelia's dress and the flowers scattered on it
- "A Window into Scottish Art" at the Lightbox, Woking (23 April - 3 July 2022) [Review]
- Representations of Ophelia
Bibliography
Lightbox Final Fleming Object List (provided by The Lightbox, Woking, for reviewers of the exhibition there).
Created 26 June 2022