Octavius Oakley RWS, Harvest Girl

Octavius Oakley RWS, Harvest GirlThis fine mid 19th century watercolour by accomplished British artist Octavius Oakley RWS (1800 1867) depicts a harvest girl leaning in a cottage doorway. It was shown at the Academy of Arts, Liverpool, in 1856 and referred to in the Art Journal. With a sickle resting upon her right arm, she looks wistfully into the yonder. A quiet moment of rest following a long day in the fields. Shes not a hired model as Oakley painted from life and its plausible

The painting is signed in the lower left and housed within a gilded frame that’s probably its original

Betigny hailed from Schaerbeek and studied at the Academy in Brussels

While an older lady

And the various layers

Tuxen was too frail to teach

It’s a gentle portrayal of a humble character

The National Gallery in Berlin houses one of his works

over a cockerel

William Henry Hunt OWS

Twirling in the right hand - I love another

where paint is applied thickly to add texture

When Herkendell created this in 1911