Dimensions: support: 1168 x 1022 mm
Copyright: CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED, Photo: Tate
Editor: This is Edward Atkinson Hornel’s “Autumn” from the Tate collection. The girls amidst the foliage evoke such a sentimental, almost fairy-tale feeling. What do you make of it? Curator: Hornel’s work exists within a fascinating historical context. The Glasgow Boys, of whom he was a part, were reacting against the established art scene. How does this painting challenge or subvert conventional Victorian depictions of childhood? Editor: I see your point! Maybe the lack of idealization, the girls look very natural. What do you think Hornel was trying to express about childhood and its place in society? Curator: It could be that Hornel was positioning these children as intrinsically linked to nature, free from the constraints of societal expectations that the establishment imposed. Editor: That’s a great perspective. It makes me appreciate the subtle rebellion embedded in such a seemingly sweet image. Curator: Indeed, it reveals how art can subtly challenge prevailing norms and values.
Comments
Join the conversation
Join millions of artists and users on Artera today and experience the ultimate creative platform.
During the later part of his career Hornel made a speciality of pictures of young girls in a landscape, or beside a pool of water or the sea. This was a subject he had invented and he painted it repeatedly. As with 'Autumn', the oddity of all these pictures is that the children seem embedded in leaves or undergrowth. The colours and shapes overwhelm the subject. The lack of reality implies that everything, the children and the swans, is a symbol of some general idea, perhaps about innocence, although this is not specified. The paintings were popular, probably on account of their sentimentality. Hornel made a great deal of money and eventually bequeathed his large house in Kirkcudbright as a Library and Art Gallery for the town. Gallery label, September 2004
CollectMore like this
