“Head of a Girl” by Robert Herdman RSA RSW (1829

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Head of a Girl

Robert Herdman RSA RSW (1829–1888)

Monogrammed and dated 1876

Oil on board

8 ½ x 8 ½ inches

Courtesy of the Fine Art Society

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Painting in frame

Commentary by the Fine Art Society

This dreamy, painterly profile of a girl on the cusp of womanhood exudes romanticism of the kind extolled by Sir Walter Scott’s writing and also the Pre-Raphaelites. Tenets of the latter came to him via his friend Sir Joseph Noel Paton, a close friend of Millais. Herdman was also intimate with the work of Scott having been commissioned to make engravings to illustrate his novels. Unlike his more intellectual work, the palette emerges in bright technicolour, glowing like our russet haired subject.

Last modified 2 December 2021