The Javanese Dancers

The Javanese Dancers. Arthur Melville ARSA RSW (1855–1904). Watercolour on paper, 15 x 22 inches; 38 x 56 cm) Inscribed: ‘Javonnaise Dancers, Arthur Melville 89’.

The Javanese Dancers performed in the grounds of Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1889 and were also the subject of pictures by Sargent, Degas and Monet. lain Gale notes that 'Here on the one hand is Melville the exotic and on the other the artist of everyday life tackling the same subject matter as the Impressionists and Lautrec with a verve and immediacy which captures the atmosphere...in a quite unique way, using deft strokes of the brush, and allowing his viewer to fill in the blanks'.

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References

Gale, Iain. Arthur Melville. London: Atelier Books, 1996; pp. 52-54, 97; sketch illustrated pl. 41.

MacKay, Agnes Ethel. Arthur Melville, Scottish Impressionist, 1855–1904. London: F. Lewis Publishers, 1951; pp. 76, 135-64.

Spring '99. Exhibition Catalogue. London: The Fine Art Society, 1999. No. 26.


Last modified 6 October 2011