Tuesday 2nd December - The End of the Chapter

Goodness, after yesterday I better make today's a bit more jolly and try and avoid too much death and misery.  Mind you, that is the sort of thing I go in for.  I'll try and pick a jollier one today...

The End of the Chapter (1911) Philip Wilson Steer

That's more like it; this one is practically luminous. At first glance I can't see any subtext of female enslavement and gilded cages, so we might be okay. This is what the Yorkshire Post  (the clarion of truth) considered to be Steer's finest piece of work, which is a bold claim as he is a pretty good artist.  I was surprised with how un-abstract and painterly he is here in comparison to something like Hydrangeas (1901) (which I know because it features Ethel Warwick).  The Yorkshire Post agrees with me in a 1939 article where they talked about the fascination of the piece and how the figure and her room seem detached yet perfectly in tune. The room, in their opinion, had been furnished with taste and refinement for objects, even though they 'acquired a superfluity of what may be called "knobs and corners."' Well, quite.

The newspaper concentrated on what they saw as the main 'drama' - when you finish a book and for a moment everything stops.  I recently read two novels quickly and each one was such a pleasure that I didn't want it to end and felt somewhat bereft the moment it was over. In this woman's gaze  into the flickering flames, I can see that moment when you just want to live in the final parts of the book as it leaves you and you just aren't ready to say goodbye to the people you have met.

Also, that dress! It attracts the eye and although not quite as good as the shine of a Millais satin dress, it gives the illusion of the billowing satin-silk which you can almost hear. Thinking about it, she might want to sit a little further back from the flames.  You know, just in case.

I think I wanted to include this picture because of the detail, or absence, of the fire - you know she is holding her hands in front of it, you can feel its presence but it is not in the picture.  In a way, that is like the book she has read.  You can see her thinking about the story, the effect it has had on her but you cannot see the story itself. She might be reading anything - a novel, a guide to book-keeping, prawns of the world - but we feel the story, its emotional depth because, like the fire, it is present by implication.

Mrs Cyprian Williams (1891)

I found it very interesting that Country Life hated The End of the Chapter with a passion, and in 1929 declared it rubbish, preferring things like Mrs Cyprian Williams. They couldn't believe one man could be responsible for both when one was exquisite and the other tripe. They also hated this one too...

The Muslin Dress (1910)

Lawks, that's gorgeous. I obviously am a philistine so I'll get my coat.

See you tomorrow.