3-016-966 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

"Forest Leaves", by S. Anderson, in the Exhibition of the Society of British Artists, 1864. Engraving of a painting. 'It is not...by the mere brilliancy of the colours...that a judge would think of estimating the artist's gift as a colourist, but rather by the clearness and truth of the tones in shadow; particularly...those of the boy's flesh, which have rare delicacy and purity. The title of this picture is suggested, of course, by the leaves fallen from the trees, which the girl, in her ramble in the neighbouring forest, has collected. Her eye has been attracted by their colour, dyed as they are with the richest hues of autumn. She has woven them into a wreath and placed it coquettishly upon her head. As she is kneeling, with the sun almost at her back, the rays of light, already splendidly tinctured with the rosy flush of sunset, pass through the coloured leaves and produce a beautiful effect, which cannot, of course, be rendered in our Engraving. The result is, that around the head the wreath of simple "forest leaves" seems like a "glory" or nimbus; and this, with the earnest gaze of her large, dilated eyes into the darkling blue of the sky opposite the setting sun, gives a spirituality to the figure of this little rustic maiden'. From "Illustrated London News", 1864.