Maud is Only Seventeen 1919

Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale made this watercolour painting, "Maud is Only Seventeen", with a dreamy approach to colour, like a hazy memory. It reminds me of the way artists in the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood painted, all glowing light and romantic themes, so you could imagine it was made in the late 1800s or early 1900s. Look at the way the white dress almost melts into the garden, blurring the edge between girl and nature. The dress has folds and layers and tiny crinkles, it’s not just white, but full of blues, greens and yellows. Those layers echo the terraced layers of the garden that wrap around her. Her white dress pops from the painting, like a ghost! It seems to be that the artist, Brickdale, is playing with light and form to capture a moment of youthful grace, like the painting is a fleeting glimpse through a garden gate, both eerie and beautiful at the same time. Like a painting by John Everett Millais, or perhaps a painting by Francesca Woodman.