Sylvia Darning

Interiors, usually populated by a single figure, were a common theme in Harold Gilman’s work, reflecting his early interest in the work of James McNeill Whistler and Edgar Degas. Following his exposure to postimpressionist painting in 1910, however, Gilman’s interpretation of these scenes was enlivened by a bolder palette, as evidenced by the intense greens and blues of this particular canvas from 1917. The model for this painting was Gilman’s second wife, the painter Sylvia Hardy, whom he had married that same year. Sylvia was a former student of Gilman’s at Westminster School of Art.

Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2020