Girl with a fan
1864
watercolor
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
1864
watercolor
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
Dominant colour
Girl with a fan is a 1864 watercolor by William Charles Thomas Dobson, a British Romanticism work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.
This painting is called Girl with a fan. It's a portrait made in 1864. The Victorian public liked portraits of young girls. They were often depicted in oil paintings, watercolours, and prints. This picture was described as having a roundness and sweetness that is never sensual. You can learn more about the movement that influenced this work, such as Impressionism.
This 1864 portrait by William Charles Thomas Dobson depicts a young girl holding a fan, dressed in a striped silk brocade robe and turban typical of 19th-century Syrian men’s attire. The painting reflects the Victorian era’s taste for idealized images of children, enhanced by an Orientalist theme that increased its appeal despite the artist’s lack of firsthand experience in the Middle East. Exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1842 to 1894, the work was later acquired from Gerry Hulme in September 1961.
Read the full account in the museum source.
William Dobson painted quiet, detailed watercolors of everyday people in the 1800s.
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