Framed pastel: Unknown lady (called Mary Robinson) with a singing child by John Russell (1745-1806). Pastel on paper, 1793

Key information

Museum number

1979.2

Object

Framed pastel: Unknown lady (called Mary Robinson) with a singing child by John Russell (1745-1806). Pastel on paper, 1793

Gallery label

Unknown Lady with a Singing Child
John Russell (1745–1806)
Pastel on paper, 1793
Signed J Russell RA pt / 1793

John Russell was Britain’s leading pastellist at the end of the eighteenth century, a master of colour and texture. Although he only used fourteen different pigments, he mixed them to create vivid colouring and used his fingers to blend or ‘sweeten’ them into soft, hazy effects.

We do not know the identity of this lady leaning on a mossy bank in a forest glade, although the child that sings to her could well be the sitter’s own child.

Acquired with the assistance of the Victoria and Albert Museum’s Purchase Grant Fund, 1979

1979.2

On display?

No
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