Description

This keenly perceptive portrait of Susanna Anderson Rose (1795–1870) was painted when the sitter was 67 years old. The fine network of lines on her face are meticulously observed as are her silver gray curls and pale blue eyes. Frederick Sandys’s ability to render detail is evident in the subject’s bonnet, elaborately trimmed with lace and azure ribbon, and the texture of her brown fur cloak.

Provenance

The sitter, Mrs. Susanna Rose [1795-1870] London, England, by descent to her son, Col. Sir William Anderson Rose; Col. Sir William Anderson Rose [1820-1881] London, England, by descent to his granddaughter, Adria Rose Oxley; His granddaughter, Adria Rose Oxley of Kilravock Castle. Her husband, Lt. Col. M. S. Oxley. Their daughter, Valerie Oxley of Tidworth, Hampshire.; Their daughter, Valerie Oxley of Tidworth, Hampshire. London sale, Christie's, 2 February 1979 (lot 82, repr.), Portrait of Mrs. Susanna Rose, aged 67 years, for £7,000.; (Fischer Fine Art, Ltd., London, United Kingdom, 1979, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) (-1979); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1979-)

Susanna Anderson Rose

Frederick Sandys

1862

Accession Number

1979.81

Medium

oil on wood

Dimensions

Framed: 54 x 47 x 4.5 cm (21 1/4 x 18 1/2 x 1 3/4 in.); Unframed: 34.7 x 28 cm (13 11/16 x 11 in.)

Classification

Painting

Museum

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

Credit Line

Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund

Background & Context

Background Story

Frederick Sandys (1829-1904) was an English painter and illustrator associated with the Pre-Raphaelite movement, known for his meticulous technique and medievalizing subjects. Susanna Anderson Rose from 1862 is a portrait of a woman painted in the intense, detailed style that Sandys shared with his Pre-Raphaelite associates. The oil on wood support allows the fine detail and smooth finish that distinguish Pre-Raphaelite technique, and the 1862 date places this in the period when Sandys was most closely associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

Cultural Impact

Sandys's portrait of Susanna Anderson Rose is an important example of Pre-Raphaelite portraiture because it demonstrates the intense, detailed technique that Sandys shared with his Pre-Raphaelite associates. The oil on wood support allows a level of fine detail that canvas cannot match, and the portrait's meticulous rendering of the sitter's features and clothing demonstrates the Pre-Raphaelite commitment to truth to nature that distinguishes the best work of the movement.

Why It Matters

Susanna Anderson Rose is Pre-Raphaelite portraiture at its most intense: a woman painted on wood with the meticulous detail and smooth finish that distinguish the Pre-Raphaelite technique. The 1862 portrait demonstrates Sandys's commitment to truth to nature that he shared with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

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