Yelitza, 1862. Watercolour and gouache on paper, 13 x 9 ¼ inches (33 x 23.5 cm). Private collection. Click on image to enlarge it.
Although Burton admired the work of Millais it was Dante Gabriel Rossetti that had the greatest influence on him. McLean commenting on Rossetti’s influence on Burton’s portrayal of female subjects points out that Rossetti “portrayed them enshrined in ornate bowers or chambers – attending to their toilette, playing music or absorbed in thought. Their clothing, accessories and surroundings are luxurious, otherworldly, and far removed from the corseted clutter of contemporary life. While Rossetti reduced narrative elements in his pictures, he added symbolic objects like flowers, fruit, jewellery, and instruments. The focus on these works is on female beauty, romance and sensuality; they were intended to arouse an emotional response from the (inevitably male) viewer” (60).
In the 1860s Burton began to paint similar female figures and the present watercolour definitely shows the impact of Rossetti’s work. This picture also reflects the influence of Venetian painting of the High Renaissance on the work of Rossetti and his circle at that time period. Yelitza's face is beautifully modelled and Burton magnificently captures both the girl's handsome features and her pensive thoughtfulness. Watercolour remained Burton's favourite form of painting throughout his life and his exceptional command of the medium is evident in this striking picture.
The art critic of The Illustrated London News, on visiting the O.W.S. exhibition in 1862, commented: “Of the few figure subjects, none leaves a larger impression than two large Oriental studies by Mr. Burton...These are entitled ‘Yelitza’ (320) and ‘the Wife of Hassan Aga’ (280)… These heads have a force scarcely inferior to the finest paintings in oil. The modelling, the strength of effect, the powerful tone, and the rich variety of colour, deserve the very highest praise” (456). F. G. Stephens also wrote enthusiastically about this work in The Athenaeum: “Mr. F. W. Burton sends three pictures, admirable for solidity and character…More vigorous, more brilliant, deeper in tone, and even stronger in every quality of execution, is a half-length of an Oriental woman leaning from a window, Yelitza (320), a work for colour and solidity – the last a noble quality – quite unsurpassed in water-colour art” (566).
Bibliography
Maclean, Janet. “Picturing poetry – Burton and the Rossetti circle.” In Frederic William Burton For the Love of Art. Dublin: National Gallery of Ireland, 2017.
“Fine Arts. Exhibition of the Society of Painters in Water Colours.” The Illustrated London News 40 (May 3, 1862): 456.
Stephens, Frederic George. “Society of Painters in Water Colour.” The Athenaeum No. 1800 (April 26, 1862): 566-567.
Last modified 11 April 2022