Royal Birmingham Society of Artists

Joseph Edward Southall 1861 - 1944

Summary

Bordered by three lines this print shows an interior scene with a seated woman surrounded by various different objects. Across the top edge of the print is the inscription ‘Royal Birmingham Society of Artists’ but this is divided in the centre by the positioning of the woman’s head. She is shown wearing a long dress and a headscarf, seated upon a backless bench with bare feet. Her stance is quite twisted as she faces to the left with her arms stretched out in front of her holding up a sheet of paper and drawing utensil, but her head is turned to the right as she looks towards the bottom right hand corner. The floor is tiled in black and white with various artistic objects scattered upon it. In the right hand side of the foreground is a bust of a man on a podium and resting upon this is a set of paintbrushes that are bunched together with a painter’s palette. To the left of the woman’s feet is a compass and behind this is a rolled scroll of paper. To the left of the bench, set behind, is a small bush in a decorated pot.