Lot 247
£27,700
Auction: 25 January 2023 from 10:00 GMT
oil on canvas, signed and dated
Provenance: Christie's, Scotland, 30th April 1992, lot 903.
Literature: Smith B. 'Hornel: The Life and Work of Edward Atkinson Hornel', Edinburgh 1997, p.67, repr. col. pl. 25 (as 'Woman and Child, 1891').
Hornel's biographer, Bill Smith, has argued that this painting appears to confirm that Hornel had 'heard about, if not seen' the work of Paul Gauguin (1843-1903). (op.cit., p.68) He explains: 'In style it is very similar to the work being done by Gauguin and [Emile] Bernard at this time. It is a rather expressive painting. The pigment is very freely handled, the rich colour applied both in broad flowing brushstrokes and in small patches. In several areas Hornel has given the surface a textured appearance. The pose of the woman and the little girl standing on the treeless hillside, bound together in the blustery wind by the long white shawl-like material billowing over their heads, the dark meandering stream, the winding path and the curve of the horizon all combine to give the painting a wonderful flowing rhythm. The drama is heightened by the appearance of the moon just above the horizon and the pink glow of the sunset reflected in the clouds.'