Lake Scene with Fairies and Swans 

Robert Caney made this watercolour and graphite drawing, entitled *Lake Scene with Fairies and Swans*, sometime in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. The image combines an aesthetic of Romanticism and fairy painting, a genre that enjoyed a sustained vogue in Britain throughout the Victorian period. It is an idealised scene of mythological figures in a natural landscape, with the fairies shown alongside the more traditional figures of swans, to symbolise purity and grace. Paintings like these can be seen as an escape from modern life and the industrial revolution. But it’s also worth noting that this idea of ‘fairies’ in art was often used to express subversive ideas about gender roles and sexuality. These are not ‘real’ women, so the artist could push the boundaries of the image to explore contemporary themes. By looking at the artist's notes, letters, or the critical reviews of this kind of work, we can gain a richer understanding of the image and its contemporary significance.