Noon (c.1865-70) by Robert Bateman (1842–1922). Watercolour on paper; 8 x 10 inches (20.2 x 25.4 cm). Collection of Aberystwyth University School of Art Museum and Galleries, accession no. WD386
This watercolour has traditionally been attributed to Simeon Solomon but it is uncharacteristic of his work. It is very much in the style of the “Poetry Without Grammar School”, however, and is much more likely to be by his friend Robert Bateman. The faces of the three classical figures, the somewhat awkward anatomy of the figures, the palette, and the treatment of the trees in the right background all point to this being a work by Bateman. As Colin Cruise has also pointed out, a female nude would be unusual in Solomon’s work (123).
The painting features young three women in classical dress gathered around a water fountain and rectangular stone basin in a walled garden. The same red-haired model appears to have posed for all three figures. A partially draped maiden with her right arm turned outward and her hand on her hip stands next to a bronze sculpture of a helmeted Athena/Minerva, the goddess of wisdom and war, posed on top of the waterspout. Another woman is seated cross-legged to the left on a marble bench, while the third is seated on the grass with her back resting against the bench and holding a small flask in her right hand. The prominent presence of the bronze statue suggests these women could belong to the cult of Athena. Yellow narcissi are scattered through the lawn. A classical colonnaded building is in the background with only a small strip of blue-grey sky visible above it. The trees in the right background are similar in their treatment to those seen in Bateman’s The Three Ravens. This painting appears to be primarily a work of Aestheticism without any clear meaning and could easily be called a Symphony in White, similar to Whistler’s famous Symphony in White No. III of c.1865-66. The nondescriptive title of Noon is reminiscent of those chosen by Albert Moore for his subjectless paintings. A blue and white china plate, beloved of Aesthetic Movement painters like Whistler and Rossetti, lies on the grass in the right foreground.
How this painting came to be attributed to Solomon is a mystery. It is known that Solomon sold the picture to its first owner George Powell. Did Solomon sell it to Powell as his own work at a time of financial crisis? Was Solomon following in the Pre-Raphaelite tradition of getting one of his patrons to buy a work by a friend and at some point the knowledge that it was actually a work by Bateman was lost? Interestingly the water fountain and basin shown in this picture very closely resembles one still to be found in the garden, in front of the bowling pavilion, of Bateman’s last home at Nunney Delamere.
Bibliography
Cruise, Colin. Love Revealed. Simeon Solomon and the Pre-Raphaelites. London: Merrell, 2005, cat. 77, 123.
Last modified 17 February 2023