A Young Model in the Studio: A Recent Waterhouse Discovery

Introducing 'A Young Model' in full color and high resolution, discovered and photographed by Romantic Art Historian, Max Browne

In a British country auction, under the vague label of “19th-century French School, Portrait of a Gypsy Girl,” the photographer and Romantic Art historian, Max Browne, discovered a little-known painting of a young model, which has now been attributed without doubt to John William Waterhouse. Browne kindly provided me the opportunity to introduce her for the first time in full-color and high-resolution. Browne first revealed this uncovered gem to the art community in the Fall 2022 issue of the Journal of Pre-Raphaelite Studies, where he takes us back to the 1890s, to Waterhouse’s studio, in London’s Primrose Hill area, where the artist painted her for the first time.

“This young head, with its intense power of expression, is as magnetically engaging as any in the repertoire of this romantic master but without the surrounding subject content of a historical composition.”

Max Browne, “J.W. Waterhouse: Some Recent Discoveries” (2022)

J.W. Waterhouse. A Young Model. c.1890, oil on canvas on board, 17 x 14 in. Private Collection, UK. Photo Credit: Max Browne

Max Browne captured this close up of Hylas and the Nymphs (1896) to illuminate the similarity in facial features of the young sitter to these ethereal characters painted about five to seven years later.

We are seated across from the young model, who Browne estimates to be about ten or eleven years old, dressed in Italian-influenced attire. In the soft window lighting, we see she embodies the ethereal qualities and delicate features characteristic of Waterhouse’s later nymph-like figures, such as St. Cecilia (1895), Hylas and the Nymphs (1896), and Flora and the Zephyrs (1897). This newfound work may mark a pivotal period in Waterhouse’s career as he shifted his interest towards “occult and pagan mysticism” and the trends in the art market began to change (Browne, 71).

Here is a comparison Max Browne provided using his Hylas and the Nymphs poster from the 1970s

Waterhouse’s attention to detail in facial features evident in A Young Model as with his other studio studies, with the young sitter’s expression consistent with his depictions of emotive figures. (Browne, 71).

Another comparison Max Browne shows in St. Cecilia (1895), just five years later than the A Young Model is estimated to have been painted.

Carefully study the bridge of the nose and lower lip of the violinist on the right, do you think these features look similar to the young sitter?

J.W. Waterhouse. A Young Model. c.1890, oil on canvas on board, 17 x 14 in. Private Collection, UK. Photo Credit: Max Browne

The identity of the sitter remains unknown, but this portrait remains a significant work in John William Waterhouse’s portfolio. Thank you for your bringing this piece to light, Max Browne.

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Work Cited and Further Reading

Browne, Max. J.W. Waterhouse: Some Recent Discoveries. The Journal of Pre-Raphaelite Studies, 31 (Fall 2022)

Trippi, Peter. J.W. Waterhouse. London and New York: Phaidon Press, 2002.

J.W. Waterhouse. A Young Model. c.1890, oil on canvas on board, 17 x 14 in.; private collection, UK.

J.W. Waterhouse by Anthony Hobson

J.W. Waterhouse: The Modern Pre-Raphaelite by Trippi, Prettejohn, Upstone and Wageman

J.W. Waterhouse by Peter Trippi

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Flora and the Zephyrs by John William Waterhouse, 1897