ROBERT GAVIN R.S.A. (SCOTTISH 1827-1883)
ODALISQUE
£3,780
Scottish Paintings & Sculpture
Auction: Evening Sale: 08 June 2023 | From 18:00
Description
With the Artist's Trustees stamp verso, oil on canvas
Dimensions
61cm x 46cm (24in x 18in)
Footnote
Note: By the mid-nineteenth century Robert Gavin had produced a diverse corpus of landscapes, portraits and narrative subjects based on literary themes. He was a regular exhibitor at the Royal Scottish Academy between 1848 and 1852, yet felt he had not yet found a subject that truly captured his interest. An 1868 voyage to New Orleans was to reinvigorate Gavin’s painting: he became fascinated with the city’s multiculturalism and made many portraits of black and mixed-race residents of the city. He made further excursions to north Africa in the 1870s and produced portraits and scenes of life in Tangier, where he eventually settled. In 1879 he was elected a full academician of the Royal Scottish Academy. Gavin’s expressive Odalisque is a harmony of soft colour, accented by the red dash of the subject’s headdress, which is reflected in the flush of her lips and cheeks.