‘The Garden’

‘The Garden‘ is an oil on canvas painting, 77 .5 x 63.3 cm in size, by Ethel Walker (1861 – 1951) in the permanent collection of the Bradford Museums and Galleries Service and currently (2025) on display at Cartwright Hall, Lister Park, Bradford.

It was painted at the end of the 19th century, around 1899, and is an example of English impressionistic plein air art work.  It illustrates a woman in a garden in late summer apparently reaching up to pick an apple or pear from a tree.  There is full sun on the garden and the light source is from the top left of the painting. There are patches of light on the figure of the woman and shadow patterns on the ground and tree trunk. Flowers are in full bloom, including antirrhinums, roses and gladiola.

Fallen fruit  lies on the ground to the left of the tree.  Artists of this period often deliberately included items in their paintings that had a symbolic or metaphorical meaning.  In this painting, the fallen fruit may signify the passing of time, including the passage of nature; nothing in nature is static: there is always a process of transition to be observed.  This could also apply to the woman in the scene, whose age is somewhat indeterminate: young still, but, as with the garden, clearly in transit through the adult period of her life.  There is a contrast too, between the natural and evolving world of the garden and the more permanent concrete surfaces in the middle-distance.

 

 

The colours are largely pastel, and although the white of the woman’s clothes predominates, the whiteness  is  broken by a combination of shadow and sunlight, the skilfully executed folds at the bottom of the skirt, and red bloom tucked into the sash.  The artist also uses subtle shades of blue in the blouse and skirt to offset the whiteness, and the blue is also echoed in the foreground and middle distance. The woman’s brunette hair also presents a counterpoint note to the white of her clothes. The bonnet on the ground to the left of the foreground also presents shades of white and cream, as well as a dash of pink from a flower and a dark green ribbon for contrast.

The form of the woman is reflected in the shape of the tree, particularly with her extended arms that mirror the main tree branch. Perspective is created via foreground (woman and tree); the middle distance (concrete steps); and the far distance (recumbent dog); the dark wall in the far distance both gives the painting a sense of visual closure as well as a sense of enclosure to the scene. The overall effect is to create a pleasing three-dimensional effect that takes the viewer into and beyond the immediate foreground and main focus of the painting

 

 

The woman is not dressed for gardening and the garden is well-maintained – so by whom?   The painting then poses a question: who is the woman and her relationship with the garden?   The woman appears to be from an affluent section of society; the garden appears to be quite large and is walled; she is picking a fruit and appears very comfortable in the space presented to us, so it is a reasonable assumption perhaps to believe she has some ownership claim on the garden.

The overall impact of the scene is intimate and pleasing, and one can imagine it would be a popular choice for purchase at that time by affluent art collectors with gardens – and a love of gardens.

 

The Artist

 

Ethel Walker was a Scottish painter of portraits, particularly of women, as well as of floral subjects, seascapes, and other decorative compositions. She studied art consecutively and progressively at art schools, first at Ridley, then Putney, Westminster, and finally at the Slade  in London

She enjoyed considerable success during her lifetime and was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1943;  one of only four women artists to receive that honour by 2010.  Her artwork was widely exhibited and she became the first woman member of the New English Art Club and a regular exhibitor at their shows. Ethel also represented Britain at the Venice Biennale four times: in 1922, 1924, 1928 and 1930.  Her work can be found in many public and private collections.