"Thy tuneful strings wake memories"" by John Melhuish Strudwick (1849-1937). Oil on canvas. Dimensions unknown. Provenance: W. Imrie, of Liverpool, as of 1891. Present location unknown. Source: 1891 Art-Journal. Image scan provided by the author. [Click on the image to enlarge it.]
Strudwick exhibited this painting at the Grosvenor Gallery in 1885, no. 75. It is a rather typical painting by Strudwick evoking a mood of sadness by means of an attractive, pensive-looking young woman wearing dark green drapery and playing a stringed instrument which appears to be some form of lute, possibly a cittern. The background is simple, consisting of an elaborately carved marble bench, with curtains over the windows behind, giving the picture a very flat two-dimensional feel.
Contemporary Reviews of the Painting
When this picture was shown at the Grosvenor Gallery in 1885 the critics were more apt to discuss Strudwick's other submission A Golden Thread. Cosmo Monkhouse, the critic of The Academy, however, felt "Thy tuneful strings wake memories" was effective in creating mood matched by its colour harmony: "Mr. J. M. Strudwick also succeeds in his aim, and the strain of sweet melancholy in his figure labelled 'Thy Tuneful Strings wake Memories' (75) is well in keeping with its sober harmony of ivory and bronze" (371).
F.G. Stephens in The Athenaeum actually much preferred this picture to Strudwick's A Golden Thread and, for once, actually praised a painting by Strudwick: "Mr. Strudwick has improved notably of late. In Tuneful Strings wake Memories we have, indeed, to get over the pseudo-archaism which it pleases Mr. Strudwick to adopt, simply because Mantegna, or the author of certain pictures which bear Mantegna's name, could not paint except in a fashion which, even in his time, was insincere and affected. A Byzantinish-looking damsel of the most wan carnations, clad in deep bronze-olive garments falling in pipe-like folds, holds in a whimsical way a lute, while her fingers linger on the strings. There is beautiful colour in this picture; the extremities and some other parts have been drawn with charming taste and great attention" (540).
You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the author and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite it in a print one.
Bibliography
Blackburn, Henry. Grosvenor Notes VIII (May 1885): 19.
Kolsteren, Steven. "The Pre-Raphaelite Art of John Melhuish Strudwick (1849-1937)." The Journal of Pre-Raphaelite and Aesthetic Studies I: 2 (Fall 1988): 11, no. 13.
Monkhouse, Cosmo. "Fine Art. The Grosvenor Gallery." The Academy XXVII (23 May 1885): 371.
Shaw, George Bernard. "J.M. Strudwick." Art Journal (1891): 97-101 Hathi Trust Digital Library version of a copy in the University of Michigan Library. Web. 8 April 2014. [This was the original source for this web-page, as put online by George P. Landow; see the full text of Shaw's article which he provided.]
Stephens, Frederic George. "Fine Arts. The Grosvenor Exhibition." The Athenaeum No. 3000 (25 April 1885): 540-41.
Created 9 April 2014
Last modified 28 September 2025