The Fine Lady. Pencil, watercolour and gouache on paper; 6½ by 7inches (16.5 by 18 cm). Private collection. [Click on the image to enlarge it.]
When this beautiful unfinished watercolour sold at Sotheby's in 2014, Christopher Newall described it as follows:
As the day draws to an end and the bright sunlight gently dims on the landscape, an elegantly dressed lady shades herself with a parasol whilst reading a novel which she seems intent on finishing. She is unconsciously aware of her surrounding, the luscious glowing landscape, the house and barn on the hill, with horses and workers in the field beyond. Her children halt and ponder for a moment whilst she continues unaware; the sheep graze in the field whilst crows circle hauntingly above a ploughed field in the top left hand corner and settle in the longer green grass. The moon is partially evident in the blue sky anticipating the transition from day to night… Pinwell uses the white of the paper to create beautiful opalescent translucency in his bright and colourful watercolour tones, adding chalky bold bodycolour to create an intensely imaginative dreamlike scene.
Newall felt the work was reminiscent of, and certainly influenced by, some of the great Pre-Raphaelite works including Ford Madox Brown's Pretty Baa-Lambs and John Everett Millais's Waiting of 1854 and The Blind Girl of 1856.
Bibliography
Newall, Christopher. A Green and Pleasant Land. Two Centuries of British Landscape Painting. London: Sotheby's (22 May 2014): lot 151.
Created 14 May 2023