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Lot Essay
SOLOMON'S IMAGE HAS BECOME SYNONYMOUS WITH THE CONTRADICTIONS ENCOMPASSED BY THE VICTORIAN GOVERNESS'S ROLE. HERE SHE IS DEPICTED, AUSTERELY CLAD IN MOURNING, HELPING HER YOUNG CHARGE WITH HIS READING. TO HER RIGHT, A GENTLEMAN IS SEATED; HIS ATTENTION ABSORBED BY THE YOUNG WOMAN WHO RUNS HER FINGERS OVER THE PIANO KEYS. THEY MAY BE THE GOVERNESS'S EMPLOYERS, OR A VISITOR AND THE DAUGHTER OF THE HOUSE. THE ATMOSPHERE IS ONE OF AMBIENT EASE, ENHANCED BY THE OPEN WINDOW AND SUMMER GARDEN GLIMPSED BEYOND. HOWEVER VARIOUS TENSIONS ARE APPARENT. THE GOVERNESS, WHO, LIKE MIDDLEMARCH'S DOROTHEA BROOKE, HAS 'THAT KIND OF BEAUTY WHICH IS THROWN INTO RELIEF BY POOR DRESS' LOOKS SIDEWAYS TOWARDS HER GENTLEMAN EMPLOYER. SHE REPRESENTS A PHYSICAL CONTRAST TO HER BLONDE RIVAL, WHO IS CLAD IN FILMY PINK. SUCH VISUAL POLARITIES ARE INSTRUCTIVE IN VICTORIAN PAINTING; JOHN CALCOTT HORSLEY'S SHOWING A PREFERENCE (1860; SEE CHRISTIE'S, LONDON, 22 NOVEMBER 2006, LOT 219) EMPLOYED THE SAME DICHOTOMY BETWEEN BLONDE AND BRUNETTE.
THE ICONOGRAPHY OF THE THREADBARE GOVERNESS, WHO MAY POSSESS INNER QUALITIES SUPERIOR TO HER EMPLOYER'S, WAS ESTABLISHED THROUGH THE AEGIS OF CHARLOTTE BRONTé'S JANE EYRE (1847). HOWEVER IT WAS ANNE BRONTé'S NOVEL, AGNES GREY (1847) WHICH BROUGHT THE MORE SERIOUS INJUSTICES SUFFERED BY GOVERNESSES TO PUBLIC ATTENTION. AGNES ENCOUNTERS SPOILT AND SELFISH CHILDREN, UNACCOUNTABLE PARENTS, AND - LUCKILY - A SPARE CLERGYMAN OF SPOTLESS CHARACTER JUST AS HER POSITION BECOMES TRULY UNTENABLE.
NOTWITHSTANDING ITS ROMANTIC CONCLUSION, BRONTé'S NOVEL TOOK ITS PLACE AMONGST A GATHERING TIDE OF ART CARRYING A SOCIAL MESSAGE. THOMAS HOOD'S POEM THE SONG OF THE SHIRT (1843) HAD PUT THE PLIGHT OF THE SEAMSTRESS IN PUBLIC FOCUS, AND INSPIRED A SERIES OF PAINTINGS INCLUDING SEVERAL BY RICHARD REDGRAVE (1804-88). REDGRAVE ALSO TREATED THE THEME OF THE GOVERNESS; HIS WORK THE POOR TEACHER (1844; VICTORIA & ALBERT MUSEUM) IS SIMILAR TO SOLOMONS' PICTURE IN COMPOSITION AND PALETTE. HIS SUBJECT SITS ALONE BY THE PIANO IN A SOBER DRESS; HER PUPILS - THREE GIRLS CLAD IN PASTEL - PLAY NEAR THE OPEN FRENCH WINDOW. THE NARRATIVE THEME OF UNREQUITED LOVE IS ABSENT, BUT IT IS LIKELY THAT SOLOMON WAS INFLUENCED BY REDGRAVE'S WORK.
THE GOVERNESS ACHIEVED PROMINENCE IN ITS DAY, AND WAS ENGRAVED TO ILLUSTRATE A STORY OF THAT TITLE BY MRS E.W. COX WHICH APPEARED IN THE KEEPSAKE IN 1856.
REBECCA SOLOMON WAS ONE OF THREE TALENTED SIBLINGS; HER OLDER BROTHER ABRAHAM (1824-62) AND YOUNGER BROTHER SIMEON (1840-1905) WERE ALSO EXHIBITING ARTISTS. REBECCA STUDIED AT SPITALFIELDS SCHOOL OF DESIGN. HER EARLY WORKS WERE MOSTLY HISTORICAL GENRE, AND SHE ALSO ASSISTED ARTISTS SUCH AS FRITH AND MILLAIS IN PROVIDING STUDIO REPLICAS OF THEIR MOST LAUDED EXHIBITS. SUCH A SUBSIDIARY ROLE MUST HAVE RANKLED, AND IN HER OWN CREATIONS SOLOMON OFTEN PROMOTES THE CAUSE OF WOMEN - ALBEIT WITHIN BROADER NARRATIVES. THE FRIEND IN NEED (1856), FOR EXAMPLE, SHOWS A HOMELESS WOMAN APPREHENDED BY A FASHIONABLE FAMILY. THE GOVERNESS HAS THE SAME HISTORICAL RELEVANCE AS EMILY MARY OSBORN'S NAMELESS AND FRIENDLESS (1857; PRIVATE COLLECTION), DEPICTING A YOUNG WOMAN ARTIST SHOWING HER WORK TO A SPECULATIVE GALLERY OWNER.
TRAGICALLY, REBECCA HERSELF SUFFERED IGNOMINY THROUGH ALCOHOLISM, WHICH TOOK HOLD DURING THE LATE 1860S. THE DICTIONARY OF NATIONAL BIOGRAPHY SUMMARISES, RATHER ARCHLY, THAT SHE 'DEVELOPED LIKE SIMEON AN ERRANT NATURE AND CAME TO DISASTER'. THE FULLER STORY IS PERHAPS BEST EXPRESSED THROUGH HER WORK WHICH BOASTS A GRASP OF PSYCHOLOGICAL TRUTHS AND TECHNICAL EXCELLENCE.
THE ICONOGRAPHY OF THE THREADBARE GOVERNESS, WHO MAY POSSESS INNER QUALITIES SUPERIOR TO HER EMPLOYER'S, WAS ESTABLISHED THROUGH THE AEGIS OF CHARLOTTE BRONTé'S JANE EYRE (1847). HOWEVER IT WAS ANNE BRONTé'S NOVEL, AGNES GREY (1847) WHICH BROUGHT THE MORE SERIOUS INJUSTICES SUFFERED BY GOVERNESSES TO PUBLIC ATTENTION. AGNES ENCOUNTERS SPOILT AND SELFISH CHILDREN, UNACCOUNTABLE PARENTS, AND - LUCKILY - A SPARE CLERGYMAN OF SPOTLESS CHARACTER JUST AS HER POSITION BECOMES TRULY UNTENABLE.
NOTWITHSTANDING ITS ROMANTIC CONCLUSION, BRONTé'S NOVEL TOOK ITS PLACE AMONGST A GATHERING TIDE OF ART CARRYING A SOCIAL MESSAGE. THOMAS HOOD'S POEM THE SONG OF THE SHIRT (1843) HAD PUT THE PLIGHT OF THE SEAMSTRESS IN PUBLIC FOCUS, AND INSPIRED A SERIES OF PAINTINGS INCLUDING SEVERAL BY RICHARD REDGRAVE (1804-88). REDGRAVE ALSO TREATED THE THEME OF THE GOVERNESS; HIS WORK THE POOR TEACHER (1844; VICTORIA & ALBERT MUSEUM) IS SIMILAR TO SOLOMONS' PICTURE IN COMPOSITION AND PALETTE. HIS SUBJECT SITS ALONE BY THE PIANO IN A SOBER DRESS; HER PUPILS - THREE GIRLS CLAD IN PASTEL - PLAY NEAR THE OPEN FRENCH WINDOW. THE NARRATIVE THEME OF UNREQUITED LOVE IS ABSENT, BUT IT IS LIKELY THAT SOLOMON WAS INFLUENCED BY REDGRAVE'S WORK.
THE GOVERNESS ACHIEVED PROMINENCE IN ITS DAY, AND WAS ENGRAVED TO ILLUSTRATE A STORY OF THAT TITLE BY MRS E.W. COX WHICH APPEARED IN THE KEEPSAKE IN 1856.
REBECCA SOLOMON WAS ONE OF THREE TALENTED SIBLINGS; HER OLDER BROTHER ABRAHAM (1824-62) AND YOUNGER BROTHER SIMEON (1840-1905) WERE ALSO EXHIBITING ARTISTS. REBECCA STUDIED AT SPITALFIELDS SCHOOL OF DESIGN. HER EARLY WORKS WERE MOSTLY HISTORICAL GENRE, AND SHE ALSO ASSISTED ARTISTS SUCH AS FRITH AND MILLAIS IN PROVIDING STUDIO REPLICAS OF THEIR MOST LAUDED EXHIBITS. SUCH A SUBSIDIARY ROLE MUST HAVE RANKLED, AND IN HER OWN CREATIONS SOLOMON OFTEN PROMOTES THE CAUSE OF WOMEN - ALBEIT WITHIN BROADER NARRATIVES. THE FRIEND IN NEED (1856), FOR EXAMPLE, SHOWS A HOMELESS WOMAN APPREHENDED BY A FASHIONABLE FAMILY. THE GOVERNESS HAS THE SAME HISTORICAL RELEVANCE AS EMILY MARY OSBORN'S NAMELESS AND FRIENDLESS (1857; PRIVATE COLLECTION), DEPICTING A YOUNG WOMAN ARTIST SHOWING HER WORK TO A SPECULATIVE GALLERY OWNER.
TRAGICALLY, REBECCA HERSELF SUFFERED IGNOMINY THROUGH ALCOHOLISM, WHICH TOOK HOLD DURING THE LATE 1860S. THE DICTIONARY OF NATIONAL BIOGRAPHY SUMMARISES, RATHER ARCHLY, THAT SHE 'DEVELOPED LIKE SIMEON AN ERRANT NATURE AND CAME TO DISASTER'. THE FULLER STORY IS PERHAPS BEST EXPRESSED THROUGH HER WORK WHICH BOASTS A GRASP OF PSYCHOLOGICAL TRUTHS AND TECHNICAL EXCELLENCE.