Introduction
John William Waterhouse's St Cecilia perfectly captures the essence of the artist, featuring the same influences and artistic style that persisted throughout his career. The artist was classically trained, both as a draughtsman and painter, and his artistic approach would aim to work with existing ideas rather than add anything particularly new.
Whilst Waterhouse could be accused of a lack of innovation, his paintings were incredibly charming and this was enough to get the backing of the public. This allowed him to make a financial success of his career and he would eventually turn to teacher, helping the next generation of British artists.
Description
There is a combination of a background landscape with architecture and figurative portraits in the foreground. Additional touches of flowers and delicate clothing leaves a beautiful overall painting. Most of the elements found here are typical of Waterhouse but this particular scene is composed to a particularly impressive level and came when the artist was at the height of his powers.
Two beautiful servants play violins on the left of the composition, whilst St Cecilia sleeps in her grand looking chair. Her feet delicately lie on top of a pretty red carpet and the whole scene in general gives an atmosphere of wealth and elegance. When viewing the original painting one is able to see each and every detail added by the artist to this large canvas, where as small photographs of the piece may not deliver that.
Waterhouse mastered a number of technical elements within his work, and would then re-use them across multiple works. Within St Cecilia we see examples of this, with the beautifully delivered female portraits as well as the touches of architecture found at the back of the garden. He also added scenes of the sea into many of his paintings, though in this example it is just a small section of the background.
Flowers and embroidered detail also can be found within this artwork. Waterhouse saw women as aesthetic objects to adorn his scenes, and during the Victorian era this was a popular approach. He insisted on a fairly similar look for all of his models, with pale skin and very slim builds. Some of his favoured choices would be re-used many times, and become part-celebrities in their own right.
Purchased for a Private Collection
This painting was purchased by George McCulloch who was a keen collector with a particular passion for the Pre-Raphaelites and went on to purchase several paintings by Burne-Jones. With the owner's business roots in Australia, these purchases helped to promote this British art movement on the other side of the world and several original Pre-Raphaelite paintings still remain there today. St Cecilia remains in a private collection.
Large Image of St Cecilia
The larger, detailed image below displays all of the intricate detail that Waterhouse added to the clothing of each figure. He delivers material that you can touch, feel, as if you are right there. This took years of practice and natural imagination.
A quick browse of the oeuvre of Waterhouse displays his appreciation of the female body and how he tended to prefer slim brunette models. The three figures displayed here all hold the same common characterists, with long brown hair, feminine facial structures and a fairly tall, slim physique. He also used red heads as well in other works.
St Cecilia
