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Souvenir of an "International Ball" (Portrait of Miss Kathleen Bruce)

Charles Hasslewood Shannon

1907

unspecified

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Post-Impressionism Early Modern Portrait

Dominant colour

Souvenir of an "International Ball" (Portrait of Miss Kathleen Bruce) is a 1907 unspecified by Charles Hasslewood Shannon, a Post-Impressionism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.

Who painted this?: Charles Hasslewood Shannon
When & what style?: 1907 · Post-Impressionism
Where can I see it?: Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

This painting shows a woman sitting in a large chair, wearing a big hoop skirt. She's placed in front of a shadowed screen with foliage. The woman is dressed up, and her skirt is billowed out to fill the chair. The artist used the woman's skirt to create a decorative effect. The skirt is the main focus of the painting, making the woman seem like a decorative object. The use of shadows and light in this painting is similar to the technique of chiaroscuro.

The story of this work

Overview

The subject for this portrait is Miss Kathleen Bruce, later Lady Scott, the widow of Antarctic explorer Sir Robert F. Scott. However, as the picture's original title underlines (Souvenir of an "International Ball"), the identity of the sitter is less important than her treatment as a decorous object. Highlighting the woman in front of a shadowed screen decorated with foliage, Shannon positioned her to ensure her hoop skirt billowed out and filled the large chair. The result is a "bouquet" of fabrics and bows which bursts forth from the real bouquet of flowers nestled upon the woman's lap.…

Read the full account in the museum source.