British painter of myth and romance, John William Waterhouse, (1849-1917) did these lovely studies from the model as reference for his painting Hylas and the Nymphs.
The finished painting shows the story from Jason and the Argonauts, where Hylas, fetching water for Heracles, comes upon a spring inhabited by alluring nymphs, who beckon him to his watery death.Wikipedia: Hylas
Wikipedia Waterhouse
Many more examples of Waterhouse's paintings at Art Renewal Center
7 comments:
It is indeed lovely! Funny, I learn more about art from your articles than books. :D Probably, because it is short and sweet. ><
These seem like exactly the kind of young women you'd want singing "Happy Birthday" to you, as long as they didn't ask you to join them for a swim.
My word verification to post this is getting a bit judgmental: fluff
Beautiful!
Thanks again for sharing.
I've never seen his studies. :)
I love this piece along with The Lady of Shallot. The nymphs are very beautiful, but they all sport those same disturbing eyes... something is not quite right and Waterhouse has captured it perfectly. I don't know how he did it; I suppose he would have directed his models, but he probably only nailed the expressions in the painting itself. It's kind of a pity the painting's a bit cracked too.
Waterhouse is one of my all-time favorite painters. A copy of this particular painting hangs above my bed actually. Though I have around 5 of them in total. Brilliant artist.
I think it's fascinating that Waterhouse's concept of female beauty is so near that of our time (in my opinion, anyway), as opposed to most paintings and illustrations from that period.
Thanks for sharing this! He was a great artist!
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