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Creator:
Walter Crane, 1845–1915
Title:

The Lady of Shalott [1862, Royal Academy of Arts, London, exhibition catalogue]

Date:
1862
Medium:
Oil on canvas
Dimensions:
9 1/2 x 11 1/2 inches (24.1 x 29.2 cm)
Inscription(s)/Marks/Lettering:

Signed and dated in black paint, lower left: "18 WC[in monogram] 62"

Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Fund
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1986.24
Classification:
Paintings
Collection:
Paintings and Sculpture
Link to Frame:
B1986.24FR
Subject Terms:
boat | body | dead | death | legend | literary theme | long hair | pillow | poem | religious and mythological subject | river | romantic | Victorian | woman
Access:
Not on view
Note: To make an appointment to see this work, please contact the Paintings and Sculpture department at ycba.paintings@yale.edu. Please visit the Paintings and Sculpture collections page on our website for more details.
Link:
https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:1285
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The popular poet Alfred Tennyson first published his ballad of the Lady of Shalott in 1833. It told the tale of a Lady confined to a tower, where she must weave a magic web without pause. Her view of the outside world was confined to the reflections in a mirror, and a curse would come upon her if she stopped and looked directly at the world. Walter Crane represents her tragic end. Tempted to look out of the window by her love for Sir Lancelot, the curse took effect and she died singing in her boat, floating down river to Camelot in search of her love. This is one of only two pictures Crane, a founding member of the Arts and Crafts Society, and an admirer of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, ever exhibited at the Royal Academy.

Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2016

Christie's sale catalogue : Important Modern Pictures and Drawings : 5 May 1900, Christie's, London, 1900, p. 6, Lot 86, Fiche B51 (YCBA) [YCBA]

Chronicle of Art. -- February., Magazine of Art, new ser. vol. 1, January 1903, p. 205, N1 +M34 Oversize (YCBA) [YCBA]

Chronicle of Art. -- February., Magazine of Art, new ser. vol. 1, January 1903, p. 205, available online via ProQuest [YCBA]

Walter Crane, An Artist's Reminiscences, The Macmillan Company, New York, 1907, pp. 70-71, J18 C851 907 (SML) [ORBIS]

Walter Crane, The Work of Walter Crane, The Easter Art Annual, Extra Number of the Art Journal, Virtue, London, 1898, p. 2, J18 C851 +898W (BEIN) [ORBIS]

Frank F. Frederick, Painting of the Nineteenth Century in England, Scotland and America, Fine Arts Journal, vol. 34, August 1916, p. 320, available online via JSTOR [ORBIS]

P. G. Konody, The Art of Walter Crane, George Bell and Sons, London, 1902, p. 93, J18 C851 +902K (LSF) [ORBIS]

Royal Academy Exhibition, The Times (London), May 26, 1862, p. 10, available online via The Times Digital Archive [ORBIS]

Isobel Spencer, Walter Crane, The Macmillan Company, 1975, p. 64, NJ18 C855 +S64 1975 Oversize (YCBA) [YCBA]

Frederic George Stephens, The Designs of Walter Crane, Portfolio: An Artistic Periodical, vol. 2, January 1890, p. 14, 15, J10 +P835 Oversize (YCBA) [YCBA]

The Art of Walter Crane, Magazine of Art, new ser. vol. 1, January 1903, p. 96, N1 +M34 Oversize (YCBA) [ORBIS]

The Art of Walter Crane, Magazine of Art, new ser. vol. 1, January 1903, p. 96, available online via ProQuest [ORBIS]

The Royal Academy Exhibition , 1862., The Art-Journal, new ser. vol. 1, London, 1862, p. 135, available online via HathiTrust Digital Library [ORBIS]

The Royal Academy Exhibition , 1862., The Art-Journal, new ser. vol. 1, London, 1862, p. 135, J10 +Ar74 Oversize (LSF) [ORBIS]

Walter Crane, The Art Amateur, vol. 9, 1883, November 1883, p. 115, JJ10 Ar701 (LSF) [ORBIS]

Walter Crane, The Art Amateur, vol. 9, 1883, November 1883, p. 115, available online via JSTOR [ORBIS]

Walter Crane, Manchester Guardian, March 16, 1915, p. 4, available online via ProQuest [ORBIS]


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