After the Party

Details

Frederick Daniel Hardy (1826-1911)
After the Party
signed and indistinctly dated 'FD Hardy 1871' (lower right)
oil on canvas
27¼ x 42 7/8 in. (69.2 x 108.9 cm.)

Provenance

Anon. sale, Christie's, New York, 11 October 1979, lot 219, when acquired by the present owner.

Literature

Illustrated London News, 13 May 1876, vol. 68, p. 475.
S. Casteras, Images of Victorian Womanhood in English Art, London, 1987, pp. 108, 110, pl. 83.

Exhibited

London, Royal Academy, 1876, no. 916.
The Substance or the Shadow, 1982, no. 37.
Virtue Rewarded, 1988-90, no. 27.
The Defining Moment, 2000-1, no. 15.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis

Lot Essay

Sympathetic depictions of the plight of servants, exhausted by long hours undertaking hard, physical work, were rare in Victorian art. Cooks were often caricatured as being obese and slovenly, while maids were lampooned for trying to emulate their employers dress and habits. Hardy's empathy is touching, and the picture is a departure from his usual humourous scenes of children engaged in adult activities such as Playing at Doctors (Victoria and Albert Museum). Hardy spent much of his working life in Cranbrook, Kent, and was a member of the artistic colony that included Thomas Webster (see lot 45) and George Bernard O'Neill (see lot 315).

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