Three-Quarter Portrait of a Young Girl 

Curator: Here we have a "Three-Quarter Portrait of a Young Girl" rendered in pencil, attributed to Ambrose McEvoy. Editor: It's ghostly! Those fleeting lines, they barely capture her, but what they do capture feels so intimate. A wisp of a memory, perhaps. Curator: That sense of ethereality resonates with McEvoy’s place in art history. While never formally associated with a single movement, he straddled Impressionism and a growing sense of Modernism in Britain. It was a time of social upheaval; old certainties were dissolving. Is it reflected in the artwork? Editor: Perhaps, but I am mostly moved by the hat. It speaks of a period – its style, the gentle shadow it casts over the girl’s features – it whispers stories of a society and particular kind of young woman. Does this image conform or challenge what her life should look like, or what the image-making process should capture? Curator: It's interesting that you focus on the hat; such elements became potent signifiers during this period, markers of status and belonging but also statements of emerging female independence. A lot of the paintings around the time depicted members of high society and that had a knock-on effect into portrait drawing generally. Editor: It’s hard to miss, no? I am drawn to the almost symbolic weight of her demure side-profile beneath the large hat; is it melancholic, resigned, or something more knowing? I would want to compare this representation with images of the “New Woman” who emerges with the 20th century. Curator: Certainly. But McEvoy made the portrait, the model only had limited control, of course. Ultimately this work functions within the system of patronage, exhibitions, art criticism, etc. His own position shaped what this image could and could not communicate, but to what degree do you see the sitter represented here beyond his will? Editor: Perhaps very little indeed; even the gaze averted in an act of self-protection. Curator: Yes. On reflection, thinking of this portrait within its complex ecosystem truly adds a depth to it, doesn't it? Editor: It does! It really does; that’s something I will certainly consider more closely as I spend more time with it.