Record details

• generalData.title

  Portrait of a Londoner

• generalData.creationDate

  c. 1890

• technicalData.measurements

  65 x 51 cm

• technicalData.description

  Oil on cardboard

• technicalData.complementaryDescription

  Mystery surrounds this portrait. The enigma of the sitter, the attire, the author… The Londoner with red hair posing for this painting displays white pearls around the neck and ponytail, and a splendid, golden, tall headdress, which shines in the dim light coming from the left side of the composition. The dress the sitter is wearing is not highlighted by the artist, but fades away towards the edge of the canvas. The eye of the beholder is drawn, first, to the elaborate headdress, and second, to the sitter’s facial features, which are young, almost childish, but not displaying any sort of happiness or joy.
  The warm, ochre, colour palette of this portrait, as well as the headdress, is reminiscent of the manner of Rembrandt, although this work was executed two centuries later. However, overall, the tone and style of the work is accordance with the Aestheticism movement.