The Mirror

Artist Philip Wilson Steer (Birkenhead, England, 1860 - 1942)

Date1901

Mediumoil on canvas

ClassificationsPaintings And Drawings

DimensionsOverall: Height: 40.9 cm, Width: 55.2 cm
Frame: Height: 59.4 cm, Width: 73.2 cm

AcquisitionPurchased in 1952 with income from the Lyon Bequest.

CopyrightOut of copyright - CC0

LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub

Object numberABDAG003406

Keywords

About MeSteer was one of the most prominent British artists of his generation to look to France for inspiration. He trained in Paris 1882-4 and revisited France four times between 1887 and 1891. Once back in Britain, Steer pioneered the new French concept of painting intimate scenes of women in bedrooms, dressing or washing. Such subject matter echoes the pastels of Edgar Degas and the paintings of Pierre Bonnard and Edouard Vuillard, who are collectively known as the Intimistes. Steer made the subject his own by usually including a mirror, which allowed him to view the model's figure from two different angles.

English critics denounced Steer's bedroom scenes for their supposed indecency. It was not so much the fact that his model was nude but more that he was capturing an intimate moment of real life that created problems: Victorian society could deal with the nude in a classical setting but not in the context of ordinary women in everyday settings.

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Steer was best known for his intimate scenes of women. These were denounced by Victorian society who accepted classical nudes but found their portrayal in contemporary domestic settings distasteful.