Open full image Pin

Julia and Ethel Arnold

Lewis Carroll

1872

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Impressionism Realism Late 19th Century

Dominant colour

Julia and Ethel Arnold is a 1872 by Lewis Carroll, a Impressionism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.

Who painted this?: Lewis Carroll
When & what style?: 1872 · Impressionism
Where can I see it?: Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

You see two young girls, Julia and Ethel Arnold, in this photo. They're sitting close together, looking straight at the camera. The photo is special because it shows the girls in a relaxed way, not like the formal portraits of the time. The photographer, Lewis Carroll, was good at making his subjects feel comfortable. He took many photos of children, and they're known for being natural and informal. You can learn more about photography like this by looking at the work of artist: Lewis Carroll (British, 1832–1898).

The story of this work

Overview

Best known as the author of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, mathematician, lecturer, and church deacon Charles Dodgson was an avid amateur photographer. His subjects were wide ranging but he has become best known for his portraits of children, which avoid the formal, formulaic quality of studio portraiture of the time. Julia was 10 and Ethel was 6 when this photo was taken in Dodgson’s rooftop studio at Christ Church College, Oxford, on June 15, 1872. Ethel reminisced 57 years later that the times spent with Dodgson were “oases of brightness in a somewhat gray and melancholy childhood.” She…

Read the full account in the museum source.