![An Idyll [The Lovers]](9.jpg)
An Idyll [The Lovers], by Albert Joseph Moore, ARWS (1841-1893). 1893. Oil on canvas. 34 1/16 x 31 1/16 inches (86.5 x 78.9 cm). Collection of Manchester Art Gallery, accession no. 1917.223. Image courtesy of Manchester Art Gallery under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (CC BY-NC-ND). [Click on the image to enlarge it.]
An Idyll was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1893, no. 291, the last work Moore exhibited there and, in fact, the final work he exhibited prior to his death. Art UK describes the composition as:
A classical scene depicting an emotional moment between lovers in a lush garden, filled with flowering plants and trees. The young man, with short fair hair and pale yellow robes, sits at one end of a carved stone seat, his face turned away from his lover, holding a section of his robe up to his mouth. The young woman with deep red hair in a bun at the back of her head, wearing white robes, leans forward towards him with one arm on his shoulder. Yellow fabric is draped over the top of the seat on the right. In the background to the left is a carved stone fountain surrounded by yellow iris and overshadowed by a bush of pink roses. A single stem of bright orange lilies stands in the bottom right corner, and orange, white and yellow poppies dot the foreground and the grass in the distance.
Robyn Asleson has stressed the emotional impact of the lover's embrace: "Half lowering herself to one knee and leaning forward impulsively, the woman simultaneously expresses entreaty, contrition and consolation. Averting his head and enfolding his body tightly, the man signals his resistance. The well-observed gestures enhance the picture's naturalism (196).
This is an unusual subject in Moore's oeuvre, showing his interest in his late works in both narrative and symbolism, likely related to his emotional sensitivity, the result of the fatal illness from the tumour in his leg that he suffered from during his final years. As Richard Green has explained: "The subject – a lovers' quarrel – represents a change in the direction of Moore's art, and is largely explained by the circumstances of the painting's production. It is in fact Moore's unique experiment in classical genre, a field which was Alma-Tadema's specialty, and is similar in theme, although not in treatment, to Alma-Tadema's series of paintings showing pairs of lovers" (28). John Christian also feels the comparison is only valid as far as the subject is concerned, but disagrees with the interpretation: "While Alma-Tadema would have gained his effect by placing his lovers in some accurate reconstruction of a Greek or Roman setting, Moore depends on his old respect for form and colour" (131).
Cartoon for An Idyll. c.1893. Pencil and black chalk on paper. 31 ¾ x 28 ½ inches (80.7 x 72.4 cm). Private collection, image © 2011 Christie's Images Limited. Right click disabled; not to be downloaded.
A full-scale cartoon for An idyll is in a private collection. A pastel study in vibrant colours for the composition [unlocated] entitled Lovers was in Moore's memorial exhibition held at the Grafton Galleries in London, in 1894. A black chalk study for the head of the girl was included in the exhibition Albert Moore and his Contemporaries held at the Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, in 1972, no. 75.
Contemporary Reviews of the Painting
Claude Phillips in The Academy admired the pastel-like touch of the painting:
Mr. Albert Moore's pretty, fresh piece of decorative art, An Idyll (291), is not much more than a working up of already well-worn materials, yet it shows as the work of a genuine artist amid the vulgar commonplaces by which it is surrounded. A pair of fair-haired Anglo-Greek and merely decorative lovers are seated in a green bower, the fresh summer hues of which are enlivened with many blossoms of those myriad varieties of yellow – orange, sulphur, canary, primrose – upon which the skilful painter-decorator loves to ring the changes. There is something piquant in the pleasant mannerism of the pastel-like touch, which is quite appropriate in work of this type. [399]
The Artist complimented Moore on the draughtsmanship displayed here: "An Idyll. The leg might be by a Slade Professor" (132). F.G. Stephens in The Athenaeum had his usual criticism of Moore — that he was not fulfilling his potential as an artist: "An Idyll (291) is Mr. A. Moore's sole contribution. The pseudo-Greek lovers have grown rather stout, and there are slight disproportions in their limbs we have not noticed before, but the picture differs in no respect from its predecessors, except in lack of finish, research, and refinement of surface. We cannot but regret that the artist seems to have abandoned art of a serious character for a trivial sort of decoration" (611). Indeed, the critic of The Spectator, likely D.S. MacColl, found little to admire in An Idyll except its colour: "It may be added that Mr. Albert Moore sends a design to the character of whose figures and draperies and so forth, all sorts of exceptions must be taken, but which has the distinction of inventive colour" (573).
Bibliography
"Art. The Royal Academy." The Spectator LXX (29 April 1893): 572-73.
Asleson, Robyn. Albert Moore. London: Phaidon, 2000. 196-97, 229n.74.
Baldry, Alfred Lys. Albert Moore. His Life and Works. London: George Bell and Sons, 1893. 66-67.
Christian, John. Victorian Dreamers. Masterpieces of Neo-Classical and Aesthetic Movements in Britain
Green, Richard. Albert Moore and his Contemporaries. Newcastle Upon Tyne: Laing Art Gallery, 1972, cat. 74, 28.
Hedberg, Gregory. "Albert Moore." The Victorian High Renaissance. London: Lund Humphries, 1978, cat. 84, 154.
An Idyll. Art UK. Web. 8 October 2026.
Philipps, Claude. "Fine Art. The Royal Academy." The Academy XLIII (6 May 1893): 398-400.
"The Royal Academy." The Artist XIV (1 May 1893): 132-33.
Stephens, Frederic George. "Fine Arts. The Royal Academy." The Athenaeum No. 3420 (13 May 1893): 609-11.
Victorian and British Impressionist Art. London: Christie's (June 15, 2011): lot 22. https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-5451290
Victorian Watercolours & Illustrations from a Private Collection. London, Knightsbridge; Bonhams (19 November 2008): lot 206, 176.
Walker, Robert. “Private Picture Collections in Glasgow and West of Scotland: Mr. William Connal's Collection of works by Albert Moore.” Magazine of Art. 17 (December 1893-November 1894): 360-67. Internet Archive version of a copy in the University of Toronto Library. Web. 7 September 2013.
Created 7 September 2013
Commentary and images added 8 October 2026