拍品專文
This is an early work by Elsley, undertaken when he shared a studio at 151 Gloucester Road, Kensington, with fellow former Royal Academy student George Grenville Manton, who was a portrait painter and who had exhibited at the Royal Academy since 1880. It was Manton who introduced Elsley to Fred Morgan (1847-1924) (see lot 94). When Manton decided to leave the studio in 1889, Elsley shared Morgan's studio in the grounds of 7 North Bank, St John's Wood.
Castles in the Air features Amy Fusedale as the model. In this it can be compared to Private and Confidential (1885) in which Elsley painted one of the Fusedale sisters. Amy and Emily Fusedale were Elsley's second cousins, about ten years younger than him, and they both modelled for him for at least a decade. He married the eldest, Emily, in November 1893.
In nineteenth century parlance, one who builds Castles in the Air was a perpetual day-dreamer.
We are grateful to Terry Parker for his help in the preparing this catalogue entry.
Castles in the Air features Amy Fusedale as the model. In this it can be compared to Private and Confidential (1885) in which Elsley painted one of the Fusedale sisters. Amy and Emily Fusedale were Elsley's second cousins, about ten years younger than him, and they both modelled for him for at least a decade. He married the eldest, Emily, in November 1893.
In nineteenth century parlance, one who builds Castles in the Air was a perpetual day-dreamer.
We are grateful to Terry Parker for his help in the preparing this catalogue entry.