Head of an Irish Orange Girl, c. 1868. Oil on panel; 141/8 x 111/4 inches (35.9 x 28.7 cm). Private collection.
This painting of an Irish orange girl is in Armstrong's early social realistic manner where he focused on themes of social deprivation before he began to paint in a more "Aesthetic" style. Between 1815 and 1845 perhaps as many as half a million men, women and children left Ireland for Britain to escape economic hardship and famine. They either worked as itinerant farm labourers or made their way to the larger cities like London, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester in search of much needed work including as street traders. Oranges brought by ships from Spain and Portugal were sold cheaply by "orange-girls' on the streets of major English metropolitan cities. The oranges were of little value and therefore these girls didn't make a great deal of money from the fruit of their labours. Many of the sellers were therefore open to selling sex as well and sometimes acted as intermediaries in exchange for money between more dedicated prostitutes and their clients.
This work by Armstrong is very reminiscent of some of the portraits of his friend James Whistler, with whom he had trained at Gleyre's studio in Paris in the late 1850s. Armstrong was a great admirer of Whistler. In his reminiscences Armstrong stated: "I think Whistler always knew how deep and sincere my admiration was for his best work" (96). Armstrong also noted: "Being so much absorbed in his methods, I worked in Whistler's manner on three or four occasions, and caught some of his quality. Two small heads I remember, and a dress of silk brocade, but I could never satisfy myself in this way in a whole picture. I had to retouch other parts, and so lost freshness of quality" (198-99).
Armstrong gave this small panel to his future mother-in-law Mrs. J. J. Brine on January 4, 1869. Armstrong had been friends with Colonel and Mrs. Brine since 1866. In December 1880 Armstrong became engaged to the Brine's daughter Alicia (Alice) and they were married in April 1881 at the British Embassy in Paris.
Bibliography
Lamont, L. M. Thomas Armstrong, C.B. A Memoir. London: Martin Secker, 1912.
Created 19 March 2023