The Drawing Room, circa 1900

Shannon’s rapid rise in the London art world was witnessed by his purchase of a highly desirable house in Holland Park Road, next door to the home and studio of Frederic, Lord Leighton (1830-1896), the president of the Royal Academy. Under an 1892 leasehold agreement, Shannon undertook to alter the farmhouse and build a studio, a project resulting in a double-fronted structure with two main entrances, one leading to the studio and the other to the family’s household spaces. An uncommon example of domestic genre in Shannon’s output, the painting provides an intimate view of family life and depicts one end of the Shannons’ large drawing room where Kitty, the artist's daughter (in profile), and a young friend are quietly occupied, while it is presumably Florence, the artist's wife, who arranges flowers in the background.