John William Waterhouse: The Necklace

JOHN WILLIAM WATERHOUSE, R.A. (BRITISH, 1848-1917), *The Necklace*, oil on canvas, 39 x 26 in. (99 x 66 cm.), Image Source: Christie’s

“This is a preliminary idea for an illustration to Keats’s Lamia (Royal Academy, 1909), the tale of a nymph trapped in the body of a serpent. Hermes sets her free, and revives her human form. The picture is a reprise of others by Waterhouse in which a beautiful nymph is seated at the edge of a pool…All of the figures wear loose classical drapery, and bear enigmatic expressions. While the wooded landscape and much of the silhouette in the present picture is loosely touched in, the sitter’s face is well resolved…characteristic `Waterhouse’ beauty, possibly based on a likeness of his favourite model at the time, Muriel Foster. The unfinished work clearly demonstrates how the artist built up his compositions, boldly sketching outlines, but nevertheless indulging in several changes of mind and flights of the imagination. The picture remained in his studio until his death, tantalising subsequent viewers about how the picture might have evolved.”

READ FULL ESSAY: Christie’s