The Music of the Woods

Hornel has created here a memorable image of delight in the pleasures of nature. The girls are surrounded by an abundance of colourful flowers as they nestle on the forest floor. The thickly applied paint provides a rich, lively texture which catches the light. Hornel painted this type of subject to meet a flourishing demand. The Royal Academy had hoped to buy it for the national collection of British art from the collector Sir Hugh Reid, who had bought the painting immediately on completion. He later presented it to the National Galleries of Scotland.