1834
oil
canvas
From the collection of Ashmolean Museum
The Love Letter is a 1834 oil by Thomas Sully, a American Impressionism work, held at Ashmolean Museum.
The painting depicts a woman reclining on a couch, engrossed in reading a letter. Her dark hair is styled in loose waves, and she wears a white dress with a low neckline. The room is dimly lit, with a warm glow emanating from the right side of the canvas. The woman's face is tilted downward, her eyes fixed intently on the letter in her hand. Her right arm rests on the back of the couch, while her left hand holds the letter. The overall atmosphere of the painting is one of quiet contemplation. This intimate scene invites the viewer to ponder the contents of the letter and the emotions it evokes in the woman. To explore more works that utilize chiaroscuro, a technique that uses strong contrasts of light and dark to create a sense of volume in modeling three-dimensional objects and figures, visit the Ashmolean Museum.
Thomas Sully was an English-American portrait painter. He was born in England, became a naturalized American citizen in 1809, and lived most of his life in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, including in the Thomas Sully…
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