Hope

By the 1880s, George Frederick Watts had become one of the most celebrated Victorian painters and aimed to restore allegorical painting to a prominent place in British art. Adopting a symbolist approach later in life, he declared, "I paint ideas, not things." In this painting, Hope sits on a globe wearing a blindfold. She looks forlorn as she plucks at a broken lyre. This version is one of at least five painted by the artist and is the only one to include a rainbow behind the figure. It was purchased by Richard Budgett in memory of his late wife, who had been a keen admirer of Watts’s work. The rainbow, as a link between heaven and earth, hints at an enduring bond between the couple. Watts’s Hope was the subject of a sermon by the Reverend Jeremiah Wright that inspired future President Barack Obama and later prompted the title of his book The Audacity of Hope. Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2020