An Idyll

Albert Joseph Moore ARWS 1841 - 1893

Summary

A classical scene depicting an emotional moment between lovers in a lush garden, filled with flowering plants and trees. The young man, with short fair hair and pale yellow robes, sits at one end of a carved stone seat, his face turned away from his lover, holding a section of his robe up to his mouth. The young woman with deep red hair in a bun at the back of her head, wearing white robes, leans forward towards him with one arm on his shoulder. Yellow fabric is draped over the top of the seat on the right. In the background to the left is a carved stone fountain surrounded by yellow iris and overshadowed by a bush of pink roses. A single stem of bright orange lilies stands in the bottom right corner, and orange, white and yellow poppies dot the foreground and the grass in the distance.

Display Label

Gallery text panel In Pursuit of Beauty Late Victorian Art and Design Improving the quality of British art and design had been a concern since the 1850s. The British Empire had expanded into new continents but it was the classical ideal of beauty, based on Ancient Greek and Roman culture that was still considered the model for serious art. The pursuit of beauty was a form of escapism from the mass-production of industrial Britain. As well as looking to the ancient world, artists and designers were delighted and inspired by the arts of Renaissance Italy, the Middle and Far East. Many of the paintings here feature a beautiful woman. Sometimes she is a passive, decorative form, but often she is a dark and brooding femme fatale, a symbol of seduction, deception and destruction. The 'fatal woman' may reflect late Victorian male fears as women campaigned for equal rights and new roles. The emphasis on colour, harmony and rhythm and simplifying the form of an object would become major concerns in the 20th century. They can be seen emerging here in the work of late Victorian artists and designers.