Henry Nelson O'Neill (1817-1880) was an English artist who painted historical and genre paintings, some of which very clearly reflected the problems of society. However, sometimes to earn money he wrote and frivolous portraits of beauties, for which there was always a good demand.
In love
Nelson O'Neill was born in St. Petersburg in a family of visiting Englishmen, but when the boy was six years old, his parents decided to return to England. There he showed an aptitude for drawing, entered the school at the Royal Academy of Arts. After her graduation followed a trip to Italy, where O'Neill studied the paintings of the old masters. In general, a fairly standard way for any artist of those years.
But the paintings seen there and universally practiced academicism of great delight in O'Neill did not cause great delight. He was young, determined at least to make a revolution in art, and therefore became an active participant in the community of artists, called “Klike”.
Before Waterloo
Young painters gathered in a pub, ordered a pint of beer and argued until hoarse about new paintings, and about what should be depicted in them and what artistic methods to use for this purpose. By the way, the members of the “Clique” did not get along too well with the Pre-Raphaelites, and O'Neill himself was especially zealous, not missing the slightest opportunity to write some sarcastic article against the Pre-Raphaelites and criticizing them in all the magazines, good artistic word is not worse than the brush.
Pre-Raphaelite
He even created a painting “Pre-Raphaelite”, where with a good share of irony depicted how the artists of this direction worked in general, reducing them to the level of ordinary street portraitists, who only can, how to paint from life, without applying the slightest imagination regarding the refined compositional solutions.
Eastward, Forward
O'Neill himself preferred to work with historical subjects, which were considered the most complex and prestigious, for example, he wrote the picture “Eastward, Forward!”, dedicated to the departure of British soldiers in India. At that time, they were perceived in their homeland not as colonizers, but as heroes, but surely the Indians had a different opinion on this matter.
Mozart's last hours
O'Neill also addressed the theme of Mozart's and Raphael's death. The dying Mozart is surrounded by longing friends and relatives, while he himself listens to singers performing a part from his Requiem.
Raphael's last moments
In the same spirit is written and the picture about dying Raphael: he looks at his artwork “Transfiguration” and surely realizes that he has already left his mark in art, and for centuries.
It is clear that this is a free fantasy on a theme, but in Victorian England they were very popular.
A mother bringing her child to the Orphanage.
And here is a painting that would have honored another Itinerant painter. There everything is just like in life - a young mother, barely recovered from childbirth, gives her unwanted and unnecessary child to an orphanage. And judging by her decent enough clothes and well-groomed appearance, she does not belong to the “lower strata of society”, most likely she just works as a servant for the gentlemen, and she had to give in to the annoying solicitations of the baron or his grown-up son.
Pleasant dreams
However, to have a child with them - means to forever ruin their reputation, and lose her artwork. And then one way - in the “priestesses of love” or heavy physical artwork, which in a few years may well drive her to the grave. And so you have to secretly give the baby to an orphanage without the slightest hope of ever seeing her again. Even if the child dies, the mother is not notified, in fact, she simply erases it from her life. And there are a lot of girls like that in O'Neill's painting who value their reputation. Indeed, the stricter the society, the more terrible things are done to maintain all these decencies.
Still lifes with potatoes instead of nudes. A special look at Robert Falk's painting.
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