Terms and conditions of use
Idyll of the sea
1896
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
61.8 × 38.9 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
The Joseph Brown Collection. Presented through the NGV Foundation by Dr Joseph Brown AO OBE, Honorary Life Benefactor, 2004
Gallery location
Gallery 20
Level 3, NGV Australia
About this work
Aby Altson, a student at the National Gallery School in the late 1880s, won the school’s second Travelling Scholarship in 1890 and headed for Paris. In this work, Altson uses a Classical subject to demonstrate his skill at composition and painting the nude. Four nymphs take a break from luring unsuspecting sailors to their deaths. The figures are dramatically lit, as if illuminated from an opening in the roof of the cavern. A gap in the rock wall gives a view to the open sea, contrasting the sequestered world of the grotto with the real world outside.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
Paris, France
Inscription
inscribed in blue paint l.l.: Abbey Altson (on underlined) . / 1896
inscribed (inverted) in black on reverse l.l.: Abbey Altson / 2 Queens Rd / Stu (...illeg.)
Accession Number
2004.138
Department
Australian Painting
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of The Vizard Foundation
Subjects (general)
History and Legend Human Figures Marines and Seascapes
Subjects (specific)
fish (animals) fishing nudes (representations) rock (inorganic material) seas swimming women (female humans)