Painting of the Week - Annie Louisa Swynnerton
Victorian Woodland Maiden
This superb 19th century portrait oil painting is by noted Manchester artist Annie Louisa Swynnerton. Her works have previously been bought by artists such as George Clausen and John Singer Sargent. Swynnerton was the first woman to be elected an Associate of the Royal Academy and later founded the Manchester Society of Women Painters with Isobel Dacre. The composition for this painting is of a young dark haired, ruby cheeked woman dressed in red in the foreground, resting her elbows on a log, her chin in her hands. She is smiling and gazing up and to the right. Beyond her is a wooded landscape and vibrant blue river stretching out to the sea. An autumnal coloured blackberry briar is in front of her arms and blackberries are on the log, suggesting she is foraging for fruit and a child of the woods and nature. The work has Swynnerton's mystical, ethereal touch with superb brushwork and a vibrant palette. We have several paintings by Swynnerton but this is one of our favourites and is a classic example of her outstanding talent as a Victorian born female artist.
Signed lower right and dated 1887.
Provenance. Italian estate.
Click link below for this painting
https://www.richardtaylorfineart.com/artist/annie-louisa-swynnerton/victorian-woodland-maiden
Click link below for other paintings by Swynnerton
https://www.richardtaylorfineart.com/artist/annie-louisa-swynnerton