The Mill Pond

Charles Haslewood Shannon 1863 - 1937

Summary

A scene of young men bathing at a mill pond. In the foreground a pair are sitting, one drying himself and the other eating an apple. Immediately behind them is a trio of men, two standing and one sitting, all drying themselves with towels. In the middle ground to the left another group can be seen with towels at the pond side and in the background the mill itself is visible. A bridge leads across the pond, beyond which in the far background is a tall chimney.

Display Label

The Mill Pond 1905 Charles Haslewood Shannon 1863-1937 Oil on canvas The smouldering glances exchanged by the men in this painting, and the erotic beauty of the naked male forms might make a modern viewer think that this is a homoerotic painting. Perhaps it is, but it was not painted with such a conscious aim. All the nude figures are based on Shannon’s own self-portrait. Shannon was not what we would now call gay, but he lived his entire adult life with Charles Ricketts, a fellow artist whom he met when both were studying at Lambeth College in London. Ricketts did have sexual feelings for Shannon, but they were not indulged. Both devoted their lives to art – creating, collecting, and connoisseurship. Ricketts and Shannon were politically controversial within the art world, devoting themselves to what were considered the outmoded ideals of William Morris’s arts and crafts aesthetic. Purchased 1909.21