Study for “Twelfth Night”, c.1849. Pen and ink and pencil on paper, 89/16 x 111/4 inches (21.7 x 28.6 cm). Collection of Tate Britain, reference no. NO3429. Click on image to enlarge it.
This is a squared-up study for Deverell’s first major painting that he exhibited at the National Institution in May 1850. Deverell has refined the perspective in the finished painting and made a number of alterations to the design in order to solve some of the problems he had encountered when making the sketch. The background has also evolved significantly in the finished painting. This is a good example of an early drawing of the type associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Alastair Grieve has commented about these early drawings: “But the shared style of severe outline, mannered gestures, intense exchange of glance, controversial subjects in disguise, did not persist after 1850-51” (43).
Bibliography
Grieve, Alastair. “Style and Content in Pre-Raphaelite Drawings 1848-50,”” Ed. Leslie Parris. Pre-Raphaelite Papers. London: The Tate Gallery and Allen Lane, 1984.
Last modified 9 March 2022