The Mirror. Sir Frank Dicksee (1853-1928). 1895. Oil on canvas. H 95.3 x W 118.1 cm. Private Collection. Reproduced from Picryl, where it is identified as being in the public domain.
The painting was nicely described in the Academy Notes of 1896, although it is not one of those which was illustrated by a sketch:
Seated figure of a black-haired girl in loose silken draperies of Oriental design, presenting a harmony of dull crimson and grape-coloured purple shot with gold, against a background of peacock feathers. She reclines on a silver couch, gazing half wonderingly, half admiringly, at a small golden mirror held in her left hand. The rounded curve of her bare right shoulder forms the central point of the picture from which the eye travels to the cream and silver lights of a circular inlaid work in mother-of-pearl, forming the back of the couch. [10]
Everything here is gorgeous — the colours, textured of the material, carving of the throne (in some accounts, the figure is called Cleopatra), the glinting backrest. H. Heathcote Statham, writing in The Fortnightly Review called it a "brilliant realistic painting" and commented admiringly on Dicksee's versatility (969). The artist's model here was Mary Lloyd, still a popular choice at this time (see Bolger).
Bibliography
Bolger, Angela. "Mary Lloyd - The Face of an Angel, Part IV." Victorian Web. Web. 25 September 2024.
Dicksee—The Mirror-1896 Picryl. Web. 25 September 2024.
"Gallery Three." Academy Notes. Issues 20-22 (1896): No. 202. 9-12. Google Books. Free Ebook.
Statham, H. Heathcote. "The Academy and New Gallery Exhibitions." The Fortnightly Review Vol. LIX (January-June 1896): 958-74. Google Books. Free Ebook.
Created 25 September 2024