Wednesday 10th December - Adieu

 Last day in the office for the year! I am so very grateful for the flexibility of my job which I have had for 25 years (I was a child when I started there, honestly, I'm not just really old) and I love it very much.  I will love it even more from my sofa under a heated blanket. Anyway, back to the books!

Adieu (1901) Edmund Blair Leighton

Me and Miss Marple both love a bit of Blair Leighton (as Miss Marple says in A Murder is Announced (1950)). How could I not include this young lady who has put her book down for a moment as her beloved is off to get shot by the French (probably). He is beseeching her to remain true and wait for his return and she looks like she is wondering if the next instalment of her book is published yet. The painting was so popular that Blair Leighton prepared it to be a premium print for the Art Journal in 1902, heavily trailered the year before. The Western Morning News described the print as being a naval officer of Nelson's time bidding his sweetheart goodbye as he is dashing away to his waiting boat. I see no awful foreshadowing in either figure so I wonder if he won't actually be shot by the French and will return to scramble up her wall once more (not a euphemism).

I wonder what her book is? I love the bench (chair?) in the garden and the lichen growing on it - of course I had to see if there is a 'language of flowers' meaning for lichen, which means solitude and endurance.  We can read this to mean she will remain true to him and wait out his absence with her book or she will be alone forever because of war-related reasons. Talking of language of flowers, what about these?

White roses mean purity and innocence, so I don't think our sailor can have any doubts that our girl is going to be marrying anyone else, but they also mean new beginnings. The Brighton Gazette in 1913 had a very interesting take on this - they believed all partings in Blair Leighton paintings were an 'adieu' rather than 'au revoir' and all partings were temporary. The lovers' progress was always seen optimistically and even if there were partings and obstacles, all would be right in the end. I think our girl in her pink frock will be reunited with her dashing officer before too long and all will be right in the world.

The Window Seat (1905)

Blair Leighton is still contentious and no doubt seen by some people as deeply commercial and trashy, the sort of paintings liked by people who buy their art from Woolworths (as I believe the phrase goes). So far, he has not had his renaissance which is a shame as yes, his art is deeply commercial but really really enjoyable for that very reason. He was the son of artist Charles Blair Leighton (1823-55, which made him in his early 30s when he died, yikes) and his own son Eric (1886-1976, 90 years old which is much better) was also an artist, so why has no gallery done anything on the Blair Leighton dynasty? That would be a gorgeous exhibition.

See you tomorrow.