A Schoolgirl

Sir Samuel Luke Fildes, R. A. (1844-1927)

1887

Oil on canvas

H 70.6 x W 51.3 cm

Royal Academy diploma work of 1887, Accession no. 03/1339

This tender soft-focus portrait of youthful beauty shows Fildes eschewing precise realism and adopting a much looser style. It was described in All the Year Round as a "very mean diploma work" (491). But in 1895, the portrait, originally entitled "Phyllis" was being hailed as "one of the most attractive of all his beautiful single figures" (Thomson 10). See below for Thomson's description of the painting.

  • The painting in its frame.

  • Black and white reproduction, in Thomson 8.

    Photographs by Jacqueline Banerjee at the re-opening of Leighton House in October 2022, in their display of "Artists and Neighbours: the Holland Park Circle" (on until 19 February 2023).