Sunday, January 9, 2011

Painting of the Day: Study of the Head of a Girl by Paul Thumann, 1879

Study of a Head of a Girl
Paul Thumann, 1879
Oil on Panel
The Royal Collection
King Edward VII had inherited many traits from his mother, Queen Victoria, and his father, Prince Albert. One of them was his love for art and his desire to collect pieces which represented the great artists of the world. In that pursuit, King Edward VII came upon the work of German artist Paul Thumann whose crisp, romantic paintings remind us of work of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.


The first painting of Thumann’s that King Edward purchased was this 1879 portrait entitled Study of the Head of a Girl. Aside from his love of art, King Edward VII, so it’s said, had an eye for the ladies as well. So, this portrait, it would seem, satisfied two of his passions at once.

2 comments:

SherR said...

There's a distinct 'Golden Age of Dutch Art' air to this painting. It reminds me (for instance) of some head&shoulders works by Frans Hal and Rembrandt. Yet the face of the girl in this work is clearly Victorian in style.

I've noticed this in other Victorian paintings, particularly 'costume peices' set in 'foreign' or 'historical' settings. Each era of art has its own distinguishing features, this is one way of identifying a Victorian peice.

Joseph Crisalli said...

Indeed! It's fascinating to track the changes in the "ideal" over the centuries.